IT = Sensational Sub

April 15, 2015

AUBURN HILLS, Mich. - For the few and proud who braved a raw Michigan evening and the Pistons' 30-47 record to take in last night's game, the backing vocal on the Celtics' 113-103 victory had to sound odd and even a little troubling.



As the Palace public address announcer dutifully reported each time he scored, Isaiah Thomas was beating up the home team. Sure, it wasn't the same guy whose number hangs from the rafters (Isiah), but the 5-foot-9 Celtics guard's 34 points were ringing through the arena like those of the diminutive guard from yester-century.

Thomas made 10-of-17 shots from the floor and 10-of-11 free throws as the Celts, making their first national television appearance of the season, strengthened their tenuous grip on a playoff spot. With Brooklyn's loss to Atlanta, they moved into seventh position by virtue of owning the tiebreaker with the Nets.

"We couldn't contain Isaiah Thomas," Pistons coach Stan Van Gundy said. "We could not keep him out of the paint. We could not stop him one-on-one on drives or on pick-and-rolls when our big guys tried to trap him." Indeed, there were occasions on which Thomas beat the first line of defense and was by himself as he cruised in for layups.

According to stat guru Dick Lipe, Thomas is the first Celtics player to have more than 31 points off the bench since Ricky Davis went for 36 against Atlanta on April 1, 2005. And Thomas is the only Celtics sub to score 23 or more points three times in one season in the past 30 years (he had 23 against Milwaukee and 25 in Toronto).

"It was just one of them nights," he said. "Shots were falling, I was being aggressive and, like I said, it was just one of them nights. "In the fourth quarter, they trapped a little bit on the ball screens, but other than that, I mean, it's like I did a move and I ended up at the hoop. It was kind of weird, but I just took what the defense gave me and tried to be aggressive."

Both Thomas and coach Brad Stevens offered credit to the others on the court, with fellow pine people Jae Crowder (17 points), Kelly Olynyk (12), Jonas Jerebko (six) and Jared Sullinger (four) complementing him well. Avery Bradley and Marcus Smart also were with him at times to form a small but aggressive backcourt group.

"They demand attention, and he's able to get to the rim some or get his own shot," Stevens said. "He's excellent off those pick-and-rolls. "We drove the ball all night, and we were getting to the rim or we were getting to the line. The idea was to spread those bigs out and drive them. We wanted to keep driving the ball."

The Celtics drove Detroit to defeat, forcing its defense to move and catching the hosts reaching. The result was a whopping 33-6 advantage in free throws made (and 34-10 in attempts). That meant the Pistons outscored the C's 97-80 from the floor and lost.

Stevens was right to be concerned about Andre Drummond, Greg Monroe and the Pistons' size. They went for 22 and 19 points, respectively, and were a combined 20-of-33 from the floor. But Brandon Bass got inside for 16 points, and the Celtics attacked them at the other end of the court.

"Going in, we felt like no matter what, those guys are going to be hard to handle," Stevens said. "But hopefully we can spread them out." Said Crowder on how they dealt with Drummond and Monroe: "Just run them. They're two big guys and not that fast. You've just got to run them as much as possible. I think the lineup change coming out of halftime with Kelly Olynyk starting, that helped."

The Pistons went ahead, 14-8, for openers, but Thomas entered the game and scored nine points in the last 4:18 of the first frame. The C's reeled off the last 18 to take a 30-16 lead into the second.
The scene was repeated in the second and third quarters, with the Pistons making a run and Thomas leading the bench back to prosperity. The lead grew to 19 in the fourth, but the Celts had more than
enough to hold off Detroit's late run.

"I think it's just, with the personnel we had on the floor, they were scared of kick-outs for 3's or whatever it might have been," Thomas said. "I don't know what they were messing up on, but it's like when I got in the teeth of the defense, there were about four or five times where nobody was around. That was weird for me . . . but I've got to give credit to my teams. They spaced the floor very well and let me attack."