Isaiah Thomas Needs to be a Passer
Since joining the Boston Celtics at the trade deadline last year, Isaiah Thomas has been the team’s definitive go to scorer. Even when he was coming off the bench, he was the only player who could truly create his own shot and blew away any other player’s productivity.
This season, Thomas once again has a solid lead in scoring for the team but that has not been the most important aspect of his game. The reason Thomas is much more of a difference maker this year is because of his ability to pass the ball. Thomas, for the most part, has adapted a pass first unselfish mentality and it has allowed him to have a tremendous impact on nights when he does not shoot well.
Against the Chicago Bulls, Thomas had arguably the worst game of his career with the Celtics and it was not because of his poor shooting. Thomas shot 5-17 on the game and as bad as that is, Thomas has been worse at times this year. His shooting percentage has declined this year but he has always made up for it with his ability to pass the ball. Against the Bulls, Thomas had just one assist and it was the worst he has looked all season long.
The Celtics are one of the league leaders in assists and they rely almost entirely on good ball movement to be successful on offense. When Thomas is leading the way with his passing the Celtics are at their best. Players have been breaking out and the likes of Olynyk, Crowder and Bradley have all become reliable shooters. Thomas is doing a phenomenal job of getting open looks for his teammates and that has lead to the Celtics being the second highest scoring team in the eastern conference.
Thomas’ 6.8 assists leads the team by almost 3 and while they have a lot of other willing passers, they have nobody that can create offense with their passing as well as Thomas. He has done a great job making decisions while driving to the rim. He is finding the right times to dish it out and it often leads to defensive break downs and open shots.
The Celtics are still waiting for Marcus Smart to be at a place where he can be a trusted primary ball handler and Evan Turner is always a wild card. If the Celtics do not get the distribution for Thomas then there is a great risk of them falling apart like they did against the Bulls. The Celtics have enough unselfish players that make good passes but Thomas brings it to another level.
The Celtics are 5th in the league in assists but Thomas is the only one that averages more than four per game. It is remarkable that Thomas finds as many opportunities to score himself with the way he looks to create for his teammates. The team relies on his shooting but they depend more on his passing.
The Celtics lose almost any offensive edge when their offense is not flowing well and when Thomas is on his game everyone is getting involved moving the ball. Thomas is still the offensive leader of this team and he cannot have another game like he did against the Bulls.
Thomas had a simply terrible start to the season shooting the ball but they have been able to overcome that. It is so rare to see Thomas have an overall negative impact on the offensive end because of his passing. Thomas is still a young player that is adapting to his role on the team. The Celtics continue to be in flux with their rotation and that may impact Thomas.
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Once Thomas settles down and gets into a rhythm the Celtics look like one of the stronger offensive teams in the league because of an incredible ability to and willingness to pass by everyone on the court.