Isaiah to sit at Garden
Back tonight for Cavs but will rest vs. Celts
Isaiah Thomas is returning to action for the Cavaliers. But he will not play tomorrow against the Celtics at the Garden.
Thomas, sidelined with a hip injury since he played for the Celtics in last year’s playoffs, will make his debut for Cavs tonight at home against Portland. He will skip the second half of the back-to-back set against the C’s tomorrow.
Still, Thomas knows there’s extra attention regarding his return to Boston for the first time since the Celtics dealt him to Cleveland as part of a package that netted Kyrie Irving.
But Thomas expects only good things.
“There’s no hard feelings,” he said yesterday in Cleveland. “This ain’t no revenge game. They know what they gave up. It’s all good. I’m focusing on the Cleveland Cavaliers and trying to win a championship.”
The breakup between the Celtics and Thomas has had combative moments, such as when Thomas said last week he felt he was misled about his hip injury and would have sat out if he knew more — a point rebutted by Celtics coach Brad Stevens.
Thomas, who became an All-Star in Boston and helped prop up the team as it began its rebuilding process, said he expects a positive reaction from Celtics fans.
“I keep saying I gave that city everything I have and they showed me genuine love back,” he said, “and that love is going to last forever.”
Thomas said it won’t be hard to sit out this time, but he’s circled the Feb.11 return visit by the Cavs to Boston.
“I’ll put on a show then,” he said.
Irving was hoping to see Thomas play in Boston this week.
“I mean the guy put on some performances, epic performances for the city of Boston and for what he gave on a consistent basis” Irving said.
Irving and Thomas were the headliners in a trade that also sent Jae Crowder, Ante Zizic, and the Nets’ 2018 unprotected first-round pick to Cleveland.
Irving appreciated the drama on the floor whenever he faced off with Thomas.
“It was just a wonder how that tough-nosed (Thomas) was getting it done every single night and demanding it from his teammates and playing with an edge,” Irving said.
“He really cemented himself as a premier player in this league and (I am) nothing short of happy for a guy like that.”
And Irving knows, even if Thomas is on the bench, what is coming from the crowd.
“It is going to be nothing but love for him from Boston,” he said.
The Celtics have a unique opportunity to ring in the New Year with a victory against the team that beat them in their disastrous season opener in Cleveland when they lost prized free agent acquisition Gordon Hayward to a gruesome broken ankle.
The Celtics experienced limited fallout from Hayward’s absence. They enter 2018 in first place in the Eastern Conference at 30-10. Boston won the last three games to become the first Celtics team to have 30 wins prior to January since 1964-65.
Marcus Morris has fully recovered from an ongoing left knee injury and came off the bench to score 15 points against the Nets in a win on Sunday night. He’s excited to measure up against LeBron James and the defending East champs.
“They are playing well and we are playing well and it is going to be a dog fight,” said Morris.
The Cavs bring a threegame skid into tonight’s game against Portland, but are in third place in the conference — four games back of the Celtics.
Terry Rozier expects the Garden to be rocking with James in the house.
“I think that is what everybody is excited about in the basketball world,” said Rozier. “I’m sure I’m pretty excited and I know we are excited and it is going to be a fun game.”
Stevens took a circumspect approach to the rematch with the Cavs.
“Really, really tough task obviously,” said Stevens. “They’ve had everybody’s number in the East for a couple of years now and we’re amongst that list.
“So we’ll see. We’ll see how (tomorrow) goes.”