A new role for Thomas
Plays set-up man to pick off Wiz
CELTICS NOTEBOOK
The “new” Isaiah Thomas put his inner role player on display in a number of ways last night — with playmaking and setting picks.
At one point in the third quarter the Celtics point guard handed off to Al Horford near the top of the circle and with his low center of gravity caught Wizards Marcin Gortat and Bradley Beal so thoroughly that they caved into each other while Horford hit a smooth open jumper.
“They were front-guarding him, and I don’t know why they would do that at the top of the key,” Jae Crowder said after the Celtics’ 123-101 Game 5 win over Washington. “We ran the same play five times in a row and got whatever we wanted.”
That was indeed Thomas doing for others, finding open shooters when he was trapped and still finishing with 18 points, nine assists and a relatively low-impact four turnovers.
“I’m versatile. I do it all,” he said of the screen setting. “I guess that’s how I got to play. As a basketball player you’ve got to read what the defense is giving you and they’re really having two or three guys on me at all times. So what I’m trying to do is giving other guys space, create space for others and also be a good screen-setter. I think that’s key, especially when those guys are playing on top of me and allowing me to set screens and open it up for other guys. I was just trying to do whatever I could to win tonight really, knowing that they’re putting a lot of pressure on me and putting two or three guys on me at all times.”
Thomas admittedly wouldn’t have so completely embraced a role like this at a younger age.
“Earlier in my career I would have probably just maybe kept forcing it, trying to keep going, but now I’m seeing the game differently,” he said. “So, like, I watched a lot of film. I see what they were doing to me. And they literally have almost three guys on me, and there’s no way that I could just keep going like that.
“So I’ve gotta change it up until things open up,” Thomas added. “But at the same time, that’s not going to stop me from being aggressive and trying to make plays, not just for myself but for my teammates as well. But I’m getting better at that. I’m a student of the game, and I just try to keep getting better and learning more each and every game. Next game might be another game where I’m setting screens and getting other guys open, and getting in the paint, dishing out. Or next game I might drop 40. You never know.”
IT hit with $25K fine
Thomas was fined $25,000 by the NBA for using what the league termed “inappropriate language” toward a fan in Game 3 in Washington.
“Obviously there’s a line that you can’t cross and you ultimately get fined for,” Celtics coach Brad Stevens said. “That’s my reaction to it. Obviously I think that if he could take it back he would.”
Thomas, assessed a technical foul in Game 4 as the Celtics were slowly melting in the heat of a 26-0 Washington run, now has a playoff-high four technicals. A fifth was rescinded. The league limit is seven, before a one-game suspension is assessed to the player.
Amir gets call again
Stevens, undaunted by the groans when Amir Johnson starts a game these days, went ahead with the veteran center as part of his opening lineup again last night.
The Celtics coach’s point is sound enough. When Washington blew Game 4 open with a 26-0 third quarter run, Johnson wasn’t on the floor. Indeed, the Celtics actually held the Wizards to a season series-low 20-point first quarter — a 12-minute stretch the Celtics actually won by a 24-20 margin.
So Stevens once again felt secure in using Johnson as a starting deterrent to the Wizards’ more physical front line.
But Stevens was also open to making an immediately change if the game started going south early.
“Last game I didn’t have a problem with the start. We’ll go from there,” he said. “We’ll be on high alert if we have to make a change, but I feel good about (the starting group). They’ve played well all year.”
It certainly worked. The Celtics led, 16-4, after the first five minutes.