Breaking down Isaiah Thomas’ top 5 moments in a Boston Celtics uniform

No. 2: 29 fourth-quarter points against the Miami Heat in December

12 minutes of near-flawless offensive basketball. That pretty much sums it up to a tee.

No player in the history of the NBA has done what Boston’s No. 4 did on a cool December Friday night on the parquet floor. Thomas lit the Garden on fire, dropping 29 of his 53 points in the fourth quarter of a three-point triumph over the Miami Heat. Suns’ guard Devin Booker eclipsed 28 twice during his career so far, including once against Boston, but never has he managed 29 in a final quarter of a regular season ball game.

Whether it was converting a bucket through contact in transition or knocking down a 30-footer with the shot clock expiring, everything was clicking. The star guard made an astounding six threes in the most important 12 minutes of the contest. Miami, as a team in the entire second half made seven threes.

If you look up “hot” in the dictionary, numerous definitions come up. Only one is really needed. If Merriam-Webster wants to paraphrase they could just say “Isaiah Thomas on December 30, 2016”.

It was just storybook-type stuff. There was no passing during that time. The former Pac-10 Freshmen of the Year drilled his first shot from the mid-range with 10:15 to play and never looked back. The Boston Celtics turned the ball over six times down the stretch, most of them being attempts to get the ball into No. 4’s hot hand. It was one of those nights. Get the ball to “X” player and get out of the way.