Isaiah Thomas

Playing with a heavy heart and a newly-reconstructed mouth, Isaiah Thomas responded with the game of his life. The Boston Celtics guard had a tooth knocked out during a Game 1 victory over the Washington Wizards in the Eastern Conference semifinals and spent several hours in a dentist’s chair in the two days leading up to Game 2 — which was played on what would have been his late sister’s 23rd birthday. All that was left to do was go win a playoff game in her memory, and boy, did he ever. In a superhero effort, Thomas carved up the Wizards with a barrage of shifty dribbles and smooth shots: he scored on a driving layup, a catch-and-shoot 3-pointer and thrice victimized defender Markieff Morris with unguardable midrange pull-ups. For his grand finale in overtime, Thomas ran the give-and-go with Jae Crowder before burying an elbow jumper with 15 seconds remaining that gave Boston a 10-point lead and sent the Celtics down to Washington with a 2-0 series advantage. Thomas shot a scintillating 18 for 33 from the field for 53 points, one shy of the postseason franchise record. He scored 24 in the second half and another nine in overtime, with the Celtics needing every last one in an emotional 129-119 win on May 2, 2017. The two-time All-Star also mixed in four rebounds, four assists, three steals and five triples in 12 attempts.

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