Isaiah Thomas Blazing Hot in January
Isaiah Thomas. He might just be the most underrated player in the NBA. His team (29-18) has the second best record in the Eastern conference. The name alone sounds like something out of the Hall of Fame. And as of late he’s positioned himself behind Russell Westbrook as the league’s second highest scorer. Here’s the kicker: Thomas has been in the NBA for seven seasons, beginning his career with the Sacramento Kings–and now, after all these years he’s establishing himself as one of the NBA’s best. It’s quite the story.
Let’s look at the numbers. Last season, Thomas averaged 22.2 points a game. This season, he’s posting 29.1 a game. After missing a four game stretch in mid-December, he’s been surging with 31 straight 20+ point nights, including career highs of 44, 52, and 41. In the game in which he scored 52, 27 of that was from three point land, and 29 of it in the fourth quarter alone. While he’s not posting Russell Westbrook-level points, he is nonetheless making a case for the MVP award. If you factor in his assists per night (6.3) he’s producing 44.4 points per game for his team.
Consider this: the Celtics are beating teams by a differential of 2.5 points a night. Their star, Mr. Thomas, is averaging a league-best 10 points in the fourth quarter alone. Not to mention, he’s demonstrated time and again his capacity to take over games when it counts. For a team that’s literally averaging a close game every night, a player like Thomas is simply invaluable to their equation. Without him, they’d be in the junk heap.
But here they are, sitting pretty at 29-18–fresh off wins against the Jazz, the Hawks, the Rockets, and Grizzlies. And, they’re 16-6 in their last 22 games. We cannot consider it coincidence that in that same stretch, Thomas has posted the three biggest games of his career. He is, on all accounts, the vital cog in the Celtics’ Machine.
So where did he come from? In 2011, the Kings drafted Thomas with the 60th overall pick in the draft (that’s the last pick for those who don’t know). That was a pretty stacked draft too. Kyrie Irving went first overall to the Cavs. Kemba Walker went to the Bobcats; Klay Thompson to the Warriors; Kawhi Leonard was picked up by the Pacers and traded to the Spurs; and Jimmy Butler went to the Bulls. But those guys went in the first round. Thomas went forty picks later than most of them.
Now he’s playing at an All-Star level, arguably the most underrated player in the game, let alone the 2011 draft. In 2014, the Kings made the mistake of trading Thomas to the Suns, who made a similar mistake of trading him to the Celtics. Something must have clicked during his time on that team carousel. In 21 games for Boston in which he came off the bench, Thomas averaged 19 points, 5.4 assists, and 2.1 rebounds. He helped the Celts go from a lottery team to the 7th seed in the playoffs that year. Since then, he’s been a force to be reckoned with. And now FINALLY, everyone is talking about him.
How can they not? He’s surpassed James Harden on the top scorers list. He’s propelling his team to their best basketball since the Big Three. And he’s downright fun to watch. Check out the highlight of his 52 pointer. It’s insane. He hit threes left and right, one of which came from so deep the opposing team needed a submarine to guard him. The guy is playing at the highest level right now. And sure, his defense isn’t great–he’s not exactly a force in the backcourt. But he comes through in the clutch. He pushes his team. He can dominate in isolation, hit threes like it’s his day job (which it is), and best of all he’s got a smile on his face while he does it. Meaning he has fun out there too, and he looks like it, which in turn makes it fun to watch him. He’s the kind of player you watch and wonder, “what’s he going to do next?” And then he hits a hook shot bank off the top of the glass.
Here’s a nice cherry on top for Celtics fans: Thomas is averaging 32.3 points a game in January. Even if he posts a goose egg tonight, he will emerge as the Franchise’s best January scorer in history–ahead of Larry Bird’s 29.5 points in 1988.
Knicks coach Jeff Hornacek put it best a few days ago when he said, “I think [Thomas’] confidence level just continues to grow day by day. I think he feels at this point that nobody can stop him, and that’s what makes him tough. When a guy has that extreme level of confidence, they feel they can do anything.”
He’s not wrong.
