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“I’m aware of everything,” Thomas said. “You can put it how you want to. I see everything.”
So did it mean more to have a big night against Wall?
“Yeah, because he’s a hell of a player. An All-Star-level player,” Thomas said. “That’s the franchise of that team, and we did a good job. Not just whoever guarded him, but as a team, collectively, we did a good job of making it tough for him. That’s what we have to do to beat good teams like that.”
Thomas later referenced a Bleacher Report article that ranked him 11th among all NBA point guards.
“Everything motivates me,” Thomas said. “Did you see that Bleacher Report thing that came out? It keeps going. It keeps going, so I think them and everybody else.
“They always send it to me. It’s always on Twitter. So somehow it gets back to me, and I just shake my head.”
ESPNBoston – Isaiah Thomas serves up KO for Celtics in front of Floyd Mayweather
You’ve been warned, Bleacher Report, Isaiah Thomas has clicked through your slide show… He’s clicked 11 times, and that’s 10 times too many.
We’re running out of ways to describe the tour de force that is “The Little Guy” to the point that his 30+ point nights engender a shrug of the shoulders and a phrase such as, “that’s just standard Isaiah.”
What stood out last night, in addition to willing his short-handed team to a win against an East playoff contender (playing much better than earlier in the season), is that he thoroughly outperformed one of his standout point guard peers in the conference. Isaiah scoring 53 against the Miami Heat? Impressive but not against a player at his level. 38 against John Wall, including 20 in a deciding fourth quarter verifies that Thomas has to be considered not only as a lock for New Orleans in a month, but lends credence to the fact that he very well should be starting the game. Wall put up empty numbers (nearly a triple-double) and in a game separated by only a few possessions late, was not heard from at all.
We know Isaiah collects slights in his brain wherever he can find them and uses them to fuel performance, but often times these “tale-of-the-tape” match-ups between two players who are perceived to be equals by fans and rankings bring out the worst in those players. Thomas admitted he was well-aware of Wall stealing the December Player of the Month and instead of that getting in his head and negatively affecting his game, he used it as fuel for another huge performance. Just another example of the growing mystique of Isaiah Thomas.
Related Links:
CSNNE – Isaiah Thomas takes over in fourth quarter… again
Herald – With pal Floyd Mayweather on hand, Isaiah Thomas delivers another late KO punch for the Celtics
On page 2, a first round playoff series with the Wizards would be fun
Here are a few angles of the Wall-Crowder, Wizards-Celtics argument: pic.twitter.com/75tw37WEqf
— NBC Sports Wizards (@NBCSWizards) January 12, 2017
Thomas was completing his postgame television interview on the court when he saw tensions escalating. He said he told everyone involved to stick to basketball, because the only person there who was built to fight was the one sitting in the front row — Mayweather.
Wizards guard Otto Porter indicated that the tiffs may have been sparked, at least in part, by what he perceived as the Celtics’ overly physical play.
“They try to play dirty,” he said. “They try to take you out your game.”
When these comments were relayed to Thomas later, he bristled.
“We ain’t gonna be running and telling,” he said. “That’s what we’re not going to do. But we’re not a dirty team. That’s not what the Celtics are about. We play hard. So if playing hard is dirty, then I guess we are a dirty team. But there was no dirty play. I didn’t see none. It’s just a lot of chatter. That’s what guys do.”
When these teams faced each other in November, Wall and Marcus Smart were involved in an incident in which Wall essentially tackled Smart late in the Wizards’ win. Wall was ejected and Smart received a technical foul.
Boston Globe – Celtics fight back; Wizards claim they play ‘dirty’
It’s possible I’ve missed a post-game quote in the last two years, but I don’t remember this iteration of the Celtics being labeled as “dirty” by an opponent. Also, Otto, teams that take you out of your game aren’t called dirty, they’re called effective.
There’s some history between these two teams and it all reached a crescendo with four cops standing guard between the locker rooms of the two teams after the game. The Wizards are currently a half game out of the sixth seed, which would likely pit the two teams together in late April as long as the Cs remain entrenched in the three seed.
That could be a lot of fun.
Related Links:
ESPN Boston – Cops used after tempers flare between Boston Celtics, Washington Wizards
CSNNE – Crowder mum on postgame incident, Wall says it was ‘Just a little trash-talking’
And finally, Isaiah is the best fourth quarter player in the NBA
Isaiah Thomas scored 20 of his 38 pts in the 4th.
IT has the best 4th quarter/OT PER this season of any player over the last two decades. pic.twitter.com/98FXP0R66G
— NBA on ESPN (@ESPNNBA) January 12, 2017
(Photo courtesy: Slam Online)
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