No one can stop Isaiah Thomas right now. Well, no one except himself.
The Boston Celtics point guard, who’s enjoying an incredible 2016-17 campaign, will miss the team’s next two games due to a bone bruise on his right knee, the club announced Thursday.
Thomas’ injury shouldn’t be cause for much concern, as Boston’s next two games are against two of the worst teams in the NBA: The Brooklyn Nets and Philadelphia 76ers. Besides, the 28-year-old probably could use a little extra rest heading into the postseason.
But there’s also this: After dropping a team-high 27 points Wednesday night in the Celtics’ win over the Minnesota Timberwolves, Thomas now has led the C’s in scoring in 32 consecutive games. That’s the fourth-longest streak in NBA history, and he’s only two games away from tying Kobe Bryant for the third-longest.
Thomas won’t play Friday or Sunday, though, meaning that for the first time in 32 games, someone else will lead Boston in scoring Friday — and his streak technically will be over.
Of course, you could argue any game Thomas doesn’t play in shouldn’t count against his streak. Then again, neither Jordan nor Bryant missed a game during their respective scoring runs.
It’s ultimately all a moot point: Thomas is playing the best basketball of his career — he ranks second in the NBA in scoring with 29.2 points per game — and likely won’t get too worked up if his streak does or doesn’t end. Still, it’d be a shame to have his historic scoring binge cut short by a minor injury.
Thumbnail photo via Greg M. Cooper/USA TODAY Sports Images
