BOSTON — Nine years after Isaiah Thomas scored a career-high 52 points to etch his name into Celtics history, the now-36-year-old returned to the place he once called home and watched as Boston channeled its inner I.T. to get back in the win column against the Heat on Friday night.
Thomas shared courtside seats with his wife, Kayla, and Celtics majority owner Bill Chisholm, basking in the hometown admiration. Before the start of the second quarter, the team played a tribute video celebrating Thomas’
52-point performance against Miami in 2016, after which he raised his hand to the crowd of over 19,000 as a gesture of mutual respect and gratitude.
By the fourth quarter, Thomas returned to TD Garden’s jumbotron as an old pump-up clip of him played, re-energizing the crowd. And just like the “King of the Fourth” himself had done several times in Boston, the Celtics rallied decisively to avoid a third consecutive defeat.
“I thought it was a great gesture to have I.T. back,” Celtics head coach Joe Mazzulla said following Boston’s 129-116 win over Miami. “He’s done so much for the city and for the organization. I came right at the tail end of him being here, but who he was as a person and a player says a lot about him. He sets an example of yes, it’s about winning, but when you’re a high-character guy, people appreciate you, and you’re able to leave a place better than you found it.”
Thomas spent three seasons with the Celtics, giving the 5-foot-9 fan favorite just enough time to leave a lasting mark on the organization. Nearly a decade after he set a franchise record by scoring 29 points in a single fourth quarter — the most by any Celtics player — fans still revere him. On Friday night, it was the current team’s turn to honor the man who poured everything into uplifting the Celtics through the post-Paul Pierce, Kevin Garnett, and Ray Allen era by paying homage on the court.
Jaylen Brown, Sam Hauser, and Derrick White delivered just that, spearheading a 3-point barrage that extended Boston’s lead over Miami. The Celtics hit 10 of 15 shots from beyond the arc in the final quarter — after converting only 11 of 28 in the first three — effectively burying the Heat in a 37-point frame. That total set a new franchise record for most threes in a fourth quarter. Boston shot 61.9% from the field, committed just two turnovers, and left no room for any last-minute dramatics.
“I thought we put strings of good defensive possessions that allowed us to get out and get those,” Mazzulla said. “That’s where the connectivity of that lineup has to be there. We have to be able to have a one-shot defense, and we have to be able to get out and run.”
Thomas, sitting just feet away from the rally’s unfolding, stood and applauded the team throughout.
“I.T. a legend,” Brown said during his walk-off interview. “I’m still mad he popcorned my car.”
Brown referenced his rookie season in 2016-17, when Thomas pranked the then-newcomer by filling his car with popcorn. The hazing took place after a win over the Timberwolves, as Brown returned to find his vehicle overflowing with the movie-theater snack, rendering it completely undrivable.
The Heat fought to stay competitive despite missing three starters — Tyler Herro, Andrew Wiggins, and Davion Mitchell. They poured in 31 points in the third quarter, narrowing the gap to a manageable 92-89, just before Thomas’ return to the videoboard ignited the TD Garden crowd and energized the Celtics.
“Once they hit those four threes and we had the three turnovers, it was almost as if our minds went numb,” Miami head coach Erik Spoelstra said. “Then we had a lot of mistakes that led to open threes. They were running different guys into the pick-and-roll… The issue was when we were making mistakes, it created confusion, and they got open threes that broke the game open from there.”
Within the first 55 seconds, Hauser drained back-to-back 3-pointers — one off a timely Hugo González steal — pushing the lead to seven points and forcing Spoelstra to call an early timeout.
“They have that kind of firepower,” Spoelstra admitted. “When they’re missing threes in the first half, you know at any point it can turn for them — and it did at the right moment.”
Boston returned to the brand of basketball that transformed the Celtics from an Eastern Conference afterthought into this season’s most surprising team. They made Miami fight for every possession, minimized mistakes by staying disciplined and focused, and kept their 3-point ball hot and ready, just in time to take a page from Thomas’ book of fourth-quarter basketball.
To Mazzulla, the celebration of Thomas was a reminder of what sets the Celtics — and Boston — apart from every other team and city in the league, something anyone who’s spent time with the organization could attest to.
“I always turn to Sam Cassell and I’m like, ‘man, this place is still packed,’” Mazzulla said. “People just appreciate really good basketball, and that’s what makes the job so special here.”
