Friday NBA Roundup: Isaiah Thomas Making Case as the Only Superstar Celtics Need

In the Boston Celtics’ biggest game of the 2016-17 NBA season to date, Isaiah Thomas was nowhere to be found down the stretch—and not because he was the shortest player out there.        

Granted, Thomas was on the court at Quicken Loans Arena on Thursday to close out Boston’s 124-118 loss to the Cleveland Cavaliers. But for all intents and purposes, his four points, two assists and one attempt from the field in the final quarter were far from the norm for a guy whose fourth-quarter scoring is second only to Russell Westbrook’s.

Thomas, though, would not be denied a second time in as many nights. With the TD Garden crowd behind him, Boston’s diminutive All-Star erupted for 26 points in the final frame en route to a career-high 52 points and a 117-114 C’s win over the Miami Heat on Friday.

“In the fourth quarter, it felt like I was out there by myself,” Thomas said, per the Boston Globe’s Gary Washburn.

The Celtics needed every ounce of Thomas’ heroics to outlast a Heat team operating without an injured Goran Dragic. With 7:14 left in the fourth, the Washington product dropped his first of three straight threes to extend Boston’s lead to 101-93. He hit two more treys following a thunderous dunk from rookie Jaylen Brown to give the C’s an eight-point cushion and another three—the old-fashioned way—to keep his team up six with just over four minutes to go.

Miami came back to tie the game at 104, only for Thomas to squash what hope the Heat had with a nifty layup, a pair of free throws and another three—his sixth of the quarter and his ninth of the game—to all but seal the deal with 37 seconds left.

It was the sort of late-game performance that would mark just about any player as a superstar. In Thomas’ case, it’s just the latest exhibit supporting his fitness to serve as the leader of one of the NBA’s most storied franchises.

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Thomas has been on a tear since the season began. He’s the top scorer in the Eastern Conference, averaging 27.7 points per game, and the fifth-best in the entire league. He’s been even better since returning from a groin injury Dec. 16. He’s averaging 31.8 points per game and has led the C’s to seven wins in nine games.

“The game is slowing down for me,” Thomas told Bleacher Report’s Michael Pina back in November. “I worked so hard this summer just to continue to get better and not be satisfied. And I’m just reading the game of basketball. I’m reading it at a different level.” 

Thomas has long been one of the league’s toughest covers, and he’s gotten even better this season. According to NBA.com, he’s been the most efficient individual scorer (1.27 points per possession) among those who have had least two possessions per game in isolation. He also paces the Association in points off drives (10.2) with a mere 0.6 turnovers on his 14 takes per game, and he ranks among the league’s 82nd percentile in point production out of the pick-and-roll.

Thomas is hardly an elite three-point shooter, though his 35.5 percent mark from deep this season is passable. More importantly, he’s been a flamethrower from the mid-range, where traditional superstars tend to make their bones. According to Basketball-Reference.com, Thomas has drained well over half of his looks between 10 feet out and just inside the three-point line.

Superstars also have a knack for getting to the free-throw line. In that regard, Thomas fits the bill. He’s racked up the sixth-most attempts per game (9.0) but ranks third overall in makes (8.2) thanks to a dead-eye 90.4 percent stroke at the stripe.

Few can compare to Thomas in the clutch. According to NBA.com, he’s scored the second-most points per 100 possessions during the final five minutes of games with neither team ahead or behind by more than five points. And he’s done it while shooting far more efficiently than the one name ahead of his.

If there’s any knock on Thomas’ offensive game, it’s that he doesn’t rack up assists like most point guards. He didn’t log a single dime during his 52-point explosion against Miami, and his 6.1 assists are just the 18th-most per game in the league.

But Thomas has a better assist-to-turnover ratio (2.71) than James Harden (2.12), Westbrook (1.92) and John Wall (2.24)—the only players averaging double-digit helpers—and, as Michael Pina explained, he plays within an offense that encourages everyone to share the ball:

Boston’s offense is more egalitarian than most, especially those teams with high-volume shooters at the point (think Oklahoma City Thunder or Washington Wizards). But its pass-happy tendencies fit Thomas’ aggressive skill set like a glove: The Celtics move the ball a ton, allowing Thomas to feast as a shifty target who can’t be dealt with head-on (a strategy that his good friend Floyd Mayweather can relate to). 

It helps to have a brilliant passing big like Al Horford, who averages 4.9 assists per game, and a physical guard like Marcus Smart, who chips in 4.3 per contest. All told, the Celtics have assisted on the second-highest percentage of their baskets (64.2) and scored the seventh-most points per 100 possessions (107.6)

The only thing that might hold back Thomas from seizing the superstar mantle in Boston is his defense. The Celtics have given up 109.1 points per 100 possessions with him on the court—a hair more than the 28th-ranked Brooklyn Nets have surrendered on the season.

Part of that problem is inescapable. At 5’9″, Thomas is officially the shortest player in the NBA. Size-wise, there’s not much he can do to obstruct just about anyone he defends, especially within 10 feet of the hoop.

Whether that’s enough of a problem to keep Thomas from superstardom is a matter of interpretation. Harden has been lambasted time and again for his lackadaisical defense. Westbrook’s inconsistencies on that end are no secret either.

That’s not to say Thomas’ limitations aren’t a concern for the C’s. If …

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