BOSTON — Isaiah Thomas had just been named to his first-ever NBA All-Star Game. His close friend, celebrity boxer Floyd Mayweather, was in the house to cheer him on.
So naturally, Thomas diverted all the attention Friday night to his teammates, four of whom scored more points than the 5-foot-9 point guard in the Boston Celtics’ 113-94 blowout win over the Orlando Magic.
Indeed, the story of the game was the play of the Celtics’ bench, which outscored Orlando’s reserves 62-35. Boston’s two leading scorers — Kelly Olynyk and Marcus Smart, who scored 16 points each — both were non-starters. Evan Turner dropped 15 points and eight assists off the bench, while Jonas Jerebko recorded his first double-double of the season with 13 points and 10 rebounds.
“I thought they were great,” head coach Brad Stevens said. “I thought they were the difference in the game.”
Thomas usually is the Celtics’ difference-maker, but his numbers Friday night — 14 points on 5 of 14 shooting with eight assists — weren’t exactly All-Star worthy.
With his supporting cast stepping up to the plate, though, he didn’t need to take over. Quite the opposite, in fact.
“I think he’s doing a good job of trying to set other guys up,” Stevens said of Thomas. “He draws a lot of attention. He drew a lot of attention with the ball (Friday night) right when he got it, right when he came off screens. It’s pretty evident that he was going to have a lot of eyes on him, so he had to make the right basketball play.”
Thomas had plenty of options at his disposal. Boston benefits from one of the deepest, strongest benches in the NBA: According to HoopsStats.com, only the San Antonio Spurs have a better bench in terms of overall efficiency. When all is going well, the C’s can get offensive sparks from the likes of Olynyk and Turner while relying on Smart to wreak havoc on the defensive end.
“Just our intensity,” Smart said when asked what was working for Boston’s second unit Friday. “The ball is moving on the offensive end, everybody is touching it, and everybody is scoring and getting involved. And on the defensive end, everybody is helping each other out.”
Of course, the Celtics need Thomas, Jae Crowder and their starters to shine if they want to have long-term success. But the second unit doesn’t mind stealing the show every once in a while.
Thumbnail photo via Mark L. Baer/USA TODAY Sports Images
