Even when being guarded by an elite defender like Jimmy Butler, Thomas has proved he can nearly always create his own shot, and more often than not, it goes in. “That’s what he does”.
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“I just wanted to attack”, Thomas said when CelticsBlog asked what he saw when he would come around the staggered screen and meet Lopez on the three-point line. “I’m the wrong guy to get in my face, so he needs to take it somewhere else because I’m not the one for that”.
“Let me say this, Isaiah Thomas is a hell of a player”, Hoiberg began. He’ doing all the proper things to get his body and his mind right to go out there and compete at a high level every single night. “He had a hell of a game”. “However if you allow him to discontinue his dribble, it’s impossible to guard him”.
Meanwhile, the Bulls can’t say enough about Thomas and what he has endured in this series, but at the same time, they have to find a way to slow him down. But when is such a violation called?
They screen well on the elbows in tight spaces, but the previous games had seen Thomas running into traffic and leaving his feet to bail out, causing frequent turnovers. It should be called. I guess he is going to keep saying that. “I thought his initial ball pressure was good”.
The Chicago Bulls struggled mightily on offense in Games 3 and 4, mostly because point guard Rajon Rondo was forced to miss both games with a right thumb injury he sustained in Game 2. But what we do know is the Bulls are a different, tougher team to deal with when they had a healthy Rondo on the court rather than watching from the sideline.
Then the Bulls swept the Celts out of the Garden in the first two.
With Rajon Rondo being ruled out and Jerian Grant ineffective, coach Fred Hoiberg has chose to roll with Canaan.
More importantly it’s helped this team get their swagger back.. “That was a crucial time that hurt us”. Off the court, Thomas acknowledges “mentally and emotionally I’m not here”, but on the court he’s again producing like the player Boston will need to be at his best if it hopes to dethrone the Cleveland Cavaliers as Eastern Conference champions. The signature games in this series so far are Game 1 (won by Chicago in Boston, 104-95) and Game 4 (won by the Celtics, 106-102). They also moved to 10-1 when Games 3-4 starter Gerald Green, who had 18, scores in double figures.
He might be the only one looking forward to the next game regarding the Bulls’ point guard fortunes. But this series too looks like it’s going seven games. “It’s going to be challenging”.
Thomas had seven assists to go with 12-of-13 foul shooting.
Hoiberg wasn’t complaining when his team was up 2-0 earlier in the series.
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Given the week Isaiah Thomas endured, Boston Celtics coach Brad Stevens struggled to explain how his star guard managed to elevate his game the way he did against the Chicago Bulls. Al Horford added 15 points and 12 rebounds.
