Breaking down Isaiah Thomas’ top 5 moments in a Boston Celtics uniform
Whether it is in the Drew League, or a Pro-Am, nothing has stopped former Boston Celtics guard Isaiah Thomas from playing the game he fell in love with. Just watching highlights of him knocking down shots and finding cutters, like this week at the Championship Game of the CrawsOver Pro Am brings Boston fans like me down memory lane.
For just over two seasons, the “Little Guy” as the late great Tommy Heinsohn called him was the headline throughout New England sports. The rise of Mookie Betts and the Boston Red Sox after the 2013 championship was real during that time, but there was no ignoring the 5-foot-9 guard.
He wasn’t supposed to be great. He wasn’t asked to be great. The Boston Celtics’ former No. 4 just was. He was that bridge between the Paul Pierce era and the current Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown teams. While he only competed in 204 games in green across both the regular season and postseason, his career with the most storied franchise in NBA history was littered with unforgettable memories. On a week where he netted 51 in a Pro-Am, we take a journey back to when he called the parquet floor his home away from home.
Isaiah Thomas’ top 5 moments as a member of the Boston Celtics
No. 5: Isaiah Thomas nets first 30-point game as Celtic at critical point
Late in the 2014-2015 season, the Boston Celtics were out of the postseason picture. April 3 to be exact.
Thomas had just come off the bench to score a team-high 23 points in a nine-point defeat at the hands of the Milwaukee Bucks. In order to clinch a top-eight spot, there needed to be some sense of urgency. The Washington native provided just that.
After that gut-wrenching defeat, Brad Stevens’ team had a three-game road trip on tap. In the Western Conference with the Phoenix Suns that season, Thomas had never eclipsed the 30-point mark. On the second game of that road trip, he reached that total. Boston’s No. 4 scored 23 points in the second half in just over 15 minutes on the floor in Detroit.
His red-hot shooting from the floor after halftime brought the Celts into the seventh seed in the Eastern Conference for the first time since the middle of March. From then on, Stevens’ side maintained that position. Thomas knocked down a three at the sound of the first-quarter buzzer in a game that was broadcast on national television. The guard was in attack mode all game. While fans may not recall this contest on April 8, 2015, this is arguably the point in time when No. 4 announced himself officially in Celtics’ colors.