Isaiah Thomas received a pretty nice present one day after celebrating his 27th birthday.
The Boston Celtics point guard was named the NBA’s Eastern Conference Player of the Week on Monday, while San Antonio Spurs forward LaMarcus Aldridge took home the Western Conference honors.
Thomas, who recently was named to his first NBA All-Star team, has been the catalyst behind the Celtics’ recent hot streak that’s vaulted them into the East’s No. 3 seed. He averaged 20.3 points, seven assists, 4.5 rebounds and 1.3 steals per game in Boston’s four games last week, all wins.
The 5-foot-9 guard also distinguished himself with several key plays late in games. In Friday’s win against the top-seeded Cleveland Cavaliers, Thomas found Avery Bradley with a pass that set up his teammate’s heroic 3-point buzzer beater. Thomas made all 11 of his free throws in that contest and scored 12 of his 22 points in the fourth quarter.
On Sunday against the Sacramento Kings, Thomas saved the C’s from an epic collapse by scoring nine of the team’s final 13 points, including five points over a span of 14 seconds that doubled Boston’s five-point lead to 10 in an eventual 128-119 win. He also found a spot on the highlight reel with an impressive block on former teammate DeMarcus Cousins.
“I just tried to end the game and do what I do in the fourth quarter,” Thomas said after Sunday’s win.
Thomas has been doing his thing all season and enters Monday averaging a team-high 21.4 points and 6.6 assists per game. He’s been a big reason Boston has won nine of its last 10 games, and the rest of the basketball world will get to see his skills this weekend, as he’ll participate in the NBA All-Star Skills Competition on Saturday night before playing in the All-Star Game on Sunday.
Thumbnail photo via Bob DeChiara/USA TODAY Sports Images
