Isaiah Thomas played with grace and grit when he could have not played at all
COMMENTARY
In the weeks and months long beyond the day when this playoff series ends, however it ends, we probably won’t recall much more than a few vignettes from Game 1. Oh, right, and we’ll remember the cursing kid. He had a nice New England way of summing up the game succinctly. We’ll remember that.
But the actual details? Jimmy Butler taking over in the fourth quarter, Bobby Portis inexplicably channeling 1991 Craig Hodges for stretches, Dwyane Wade’s springs turning into a pair of Slinkys mid-dunk attempt, Amir Johnson rebounding quite well for a man whose feet are clearly encased in cement … they will all be hazy memories by then, if they’re memories at all.
I doubt we’ll even remember the score without a glance at ProBasketballReference.com. The record shows it was a 106-102 Bulls victory, one that suddenly brings a new layer of angst to the Celtics. The Celtics didn’t shoot especially well — in the fourth quarter, Marcus Smart and Jae Crowder treated the rim like they held a grudge against it — and the Bulls outrebounded them by a 423-9 margin (rough estimate). The Bulls won the ways Celtics fans worried they might.
There is, however, one image and moment from this night that will stay with us a long time, perhaps for pretty close to forever. Isaiah Thomas, the Celtics’ guard who is as dynamic in personality as he is in performance, lost his 22-year-old sister, Chyna, in a fatal car accident Saturday. We learned in the buildup to the game that he was going to attempt to play despite his devastation. We weren’t sure if he could or should — coping with tragedy is an intensely personal process no matter how much support and caring comes your way — but respected that he would try.
It wasn’t as if we needed a specific scene to remind us of the strength and grace required for Thomas just to show up to work Sunday night. We got the scene anyway. During the pregame show on TNT, the cameras caught Thomas and Avery Bradley sitting alongside each other in the first row of the stands. Thomas had his head down, a hand over his eyes, his back heaving. Bradley sat to his left, dribbling a basketball, until he noticed his teammate’s tears. His put his arm around Thomas’s shoulder, appearing not to say a word, just giving him a steady place to lean if he needed one.
I don’t understand how Thomas did it Sunday night, and if I’m blessed, I never will. Tears streamed down his face at times during warm-ups and the national anthem … and yet he summoned the strength and focus to go out and score 13 points in the first 7 minutes of the game en route to a game-high 33.
Bradley picked him up before the game with the heartfelt arm around the shoulder. And Bradley was right there beside him early in the game helping the Celtics build an early lead. But it was not sustainable. Al Horford played a fine all-around game (19 points, 8 assists, 7 rebounds) but as usual was underutilized down the stretch. Crowder, Smart and Kelly Olynyk combined for 25 points and a minus-32. Bradley finished with just 14 after a quick start.
There were so many nights during the regular season when Thomas had to carry the offense — and did, and did again. But for all of the times they’ve counted on him, it would have been nice for the rest of the Celtics to pick him up on the court as much as they tried to away from it.
Perhaps playing was a temporary catharsis for him, a brief respite from the sadness that isn’t going to stop overwhelming his life any time soon. It’s too bad the effort, in the miniscule context of a basketball game, was wasted. But as it turned out, Isaiah Thomas, the one player who had a reason not to show up, instead showed up more than anyone else. My respect grows for him and my heart breaks for him, all at once.
