The Boston Celtics looked to be buried without their best player in Game 3 against the Cleveland Cavaliers. After all, Isaiah Thomas has been the engine of the great majority of Boston’s comeback victories this season and the All-NBA point guard was unavailable as the Celtics fell behind by more than 20 points. The Celtics were able to put together a fantastic comeback that was punctuated by a game-winning jumper from Avery Bradley and Boston avoided a potential sweep in the process.
Following the game, LeBron James was snipping at a member of the media and the mood for the Cavs was not fantastic, as you may expect. However, Boston’s locker room was decidedly more positive and Chris Forsberg of ESPN brings word that the celebration featured a video call from Thomas.
Marcus Smart, who exploded for a (very) unlikely offensive performance that included seven threes, shared this about the interaction.
“He was ecstatic. I told him I channeled my inner IT and he kind of laughed a little bit. It felt good. It felt good to see him smile. He’s been down with everything he’s been going through, and then for him not to be here, I know that hurts him even more. So to see him happy and smiling, it was a good feeling for us.”
Smart was not the only one who opened up about the celebration, as Kelly Olynyk reportedly indicated that the Celtics “wanted to share it with (Thomas)” and that he was “ecstatic” during the call. Celtics head coach Brad Stevens even described Thomas as “completely invested” and shared that one of the first messages he received came from his go-to guard.
While Boston’s comeback came without Thomas and that flipped into a conversation about the team’s strengths and weaknesses in his absence, it is easy to tell the reverence by which the rest of the Celtics see their offensive engine. The future will be quite interesting, especially if Thomas is forced to have surgery, but it is clear that Boston’s roster has Isaiah Thomas in their mind as they attempt a wildly unlikely comeback in the Eastern Conference Finals.
