Boston Celtics point guard Isaiah Thomas dropped a career-high 52 points against the Miami Heat Friday night. Here are the highlights from his big night.
Isaiah Thomas of the Boston Celtics is rarely mentioned as one of the top NBA players. In fact, he’s rarely mentioned as one of the top NBA point guards.
Usually, the conversation goes as follows; Stephen Curry, Russell Westbrook, Chris Paul, Damian Lillard and Kyrie Irving. Even James Harden has been getting consideration.
But after his start to this season, it maybe time to consider Thomas as a top floor general.
Friday night, Isaiah Thomas went for a career-high 52 points against the Miami Heat. Thomas shot just under 58 percent from the floor, while connecting on 9 of his 13 three-point attempts (69 percent).
He even accomplished a feat that Celtics legend Larry Bird never did:
Via Fox Sports
"Larry Bird has scored 50 or more points in a game four times, but he never did what Isaiah Thomas did Friday night.Thomas scored 29 of his 52 points in the fourth quarter — something no Boston Celtics player ever did — to spark a 117-114 win over the Miami Heat."
Although Thomas is only 5’9″, he hasn’t let his lack of height deflate his confidence. Thomas has averaged 26.9 points and 6.3 assists a game. His points per game stats are good for seventh in the NBA so far, too.
Thomas’ play has made the Celtics one of the toughest teams to beat in the Eastern Conference. So far, the Boston Celtics sit at 20-14, which is good for third in the conference.
LeBron James, after the Celtics played the Cavaliers Thursday night, sang his praises:
"“They got a clear-cut star and that’s Isaiah,” James told reporters before the Cleveland Cavaliers‘ 124-118 win over the Celtics on Thursday, via cleveland.com’s Chris Fedor."
Although one knock on Thomas is his lack of elite shooting (he’s shooting 44 percent from the floor and 33 percent from three), if he has games as he did against the Heat, we should see those numbers improve.