It was just another night for the Fourth Quarter King, Isaiah Thomas. Having scored 24 of his 41 total points on Monday night, Thomas lead the Celtics to a 113-109 victory over the Detroit Pistons. The win puts the Celtics at four straight; a streak that happened to start after a three-game losing streak nonetheless.
This Celtics team really rallied together in order to pull out a win against a competitive Pistons team. The lead was traded between the two teams multiple times throughout the fourth quarter, following a scoring surge by Detroit. Al Horford was able to add 13 points of his own as well as six rebounds and 6 assists. Jae Crowder also found open lanes to shoot and finished with 21 points and snagged 8 total rebounds (7 defensive).
All that aside, it was Thomas who gave the Celtics the best chance to win. The fourth quarter is when the magic comes out of the possible MVP candidate, sustaining his lead as the #1 fourth-quarter scorer in the league. Thomas hit 9 free-throws in the fourth alone as he was able to achieve a perfect 15-15 from the line overall. With a free-throw percentage of .910 this season, Isaiah is within the top five best in the NBA right now.
While it was a welcome sight to have Horford back on the court after missing the last two games, the Celtics are still missing Avery Bradley. Bradley, who suffered an Achilles injury, has missed the last seven games. Head Coach Brad Stevens has said he hopes to have Bradley return to practice very soon, but has no timeframe as to when that will occur.
Four straight for C’s and they are now 2.5 games back of Cleveland for the top spot in the Eastern Conference. Yes, you read that right. The Celtics will play their next three games at home in TD Garden, starting with the Toronto Raptors on Wednesday night.
As a side note, the Cavaliers came into the month of January with a 25-7 record; they only managed to go 7-8 over the course of the month. Their next matchup is Minnesota, which should be a win… but let’s hope not.
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