The Boston Celtics won’t have their best player for the remainder of the Eastern Conference Finals. During the Celtics’ Game 2 loss to Cleveland on Friday night Isaiah Thomas re-aggravated a hip injury that he suffered earlier in the playoffs, and as such, the team has made the decision to shut him down.
The Celtics announced the news in a press release, which also laid out additional details of the injury’s beginnings.
The Boston Celtics today announced that Isaiah Thomas will miss the remainder of this year’s postseason following re-aggravation of a right femoral-acetabular impingement with labral tear during Game 2 of the Eastern Conference Finals against Cleveland. Thomas initially injured the hip during the third quarter of the Celtics’ March 15 game against Minnesota, forcing him to miss the next two regular season contests. The injury was further aggravated during Game 6 of the Eastern Conference Semifinals at Washington on May 12.
According to the team’s chief medical officer, the decision to shut Thomas down was made to avoid more long-term damage to his hip.
This is rough ending to a spectacular season for Thomas, who established himself as one of the best scorers in the NBA. Thomas averaged 28.9 points per game, good for the third-best mark in the league. He was the heart and soul for the Celtics, which entered the postseason with the best record in the Eastern Conference at 53-29. While his postseason started with heartbreak – his sister, Chyna, passed away in a car accident – Thomas led the Celtics to series wins over Boston and Washington en route to a conference finals appearance.
Thomas struggled in the Celtics’ first two games against Cleveland – he had 17 points on 7-for-19 shooting with 10 assists in Game 1 and two points on 0-for-6 shooting in 18 minutes during Game 2 before leaving the game due to the hip aggravation. The Cavaliers currently boast a 2-0 series lead after two commanding wins.
