Boston Celtics Guard Isaiah Thomas Having MVP Type January
A spectacular January has proven the Celtics point guard Isaiah Thomas is much more than an all-star. He’s also an MVP candidate.
Among the Boston faithful, the feeling that Thomas was something special stretches back to last season (if not before). In 2015-16, Thomas helped lead the Boston Celtics to a 48-34 record. An early tumble in the playoffs did its best to negate a standout season, but Thomas is once again leading a charge to hang another championship in an already crowded rafters.
Despite a recent three-game losing streak, Thomas and the Celtics finally found some success against a team from the Western Conference. Boston, behind, 38 points and nine assists from Thomas, defeated the Houston Rockets 120-109.
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The win pushed the Celtics record to 27-18, currently in third-place in the Eastern Conference. The position has been theirs for over a month now, with very little movement one way or the other. Boston is currently 3.5 games behind the Cleveland Cavaliers for the first seed.
Thomas, recently named to his second all-star team, is an enormous reason why. He is a true MVP candidate, arguably very few players in the league more important to their team than Thomas.
He is second in the league in scoring at 29.1 points per game, behind the one man maybe more important to his own team. Russell Westbrook of the Oklahoma City Thunder currently averages 31 points per game.
Heating up in January
Thomas has been scoring his entire time in Boston. The only difference is the frequency in which he’s dropping the ball in the bucket.
In 2017, the numbers have only trended up.
The Celtics have played 11 games so far in January. Not only is Thomas averaging 32.9 points per game this month, he is doing so on 49% shooting. In a loss to the Portland Trail Blazers, with the team down players due to both injury and illness, Thomas almost willed the Celtics to a victory by scoring 41 points.
Narrowing the scope to the last five games, the numbers get even better. Thomas is scoring 35.6 points per game while shooting 50% from the field. He has also connected on 91.7% of his free throws. Thomas has committed 17 turnovers in this span. A small downside–and a number you’d like to see down a bit–but also somewhat understandable considering his frequency of handling the ball.
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Avery Bradley, with a lingering injury has only played three games in January, perhaps another reason for the increased scoring of Thomas. Either way, Thomas continues to step up, each game that passes his star rising. If he continues on this trajectory–and gets the tiniest bit of help–then the name Isaiah Thomas will be a name mentioned among the Boston greats for seasons to come and the dreams of another banner will come true.