Though they don't have much time to work on their two-man game in practice, Isaiah Thomas admits he almost always knows where Jae Crowder will be on the floor. Last night, with 50.6 seconds left against Milwaukee, that meant reaching the paint before firing a behind-the-head pass to Crowder in the right corner. Crowder buried the 3-pointer, essentially sealing a 112-107 win over the Bucks, and both players exited with another testament to their developing bond.
Thomas had what has become a routine night, with 27 points and seven assists. Crowder, after scoring a career-high 27 points in Minneapolis on Monday, began last night with a 14-point first quarter and finished with 20 points on 8-for-10 shooting. The Celtics won their ninth straight home game and moved back into sole possession of third place in the Eastern Conference.
Crowder's improvement not only has been on a fast track since joining the team last season, it's making life against double teams a lot easier on Thomas.
"A pretty good bond - we played a lot together on that second unit last year, and again on the first unit this year," Thomas said. "It's where I just know where he's at at all times. He's my bail-out guy. I just know where he is when I'm attacking and we connect. He's gotten so much better since the first day I've gotten here to now, and he's a hard worker. Sometimes we just happen to be like that, where you click with a guy, even though you don't work on things. It happens."
And it happens at the best time, according to Crowder.
"The flow of the game," he said. "We're two winners, I can say that. And I think when you have two winners on the court, two guys who want to win so bad, they'll do whatever it takes, whether it be diving in the fourth on loose balls or make that big shot or make that pass. I feel like we just want to win the game and we're for sure winners and we try to let our game speak for itself." Crowder also had an additional hurdle last night that was consistent with a recent Celtics problem. He picked up his fifth foul with 8:25 left in the third quarter, and didn't return until the 5:31 mark of the fourth.
As evidenced by the early foul trouble of Amir Johnson and Marcus Smart, who both finished with four, the Celtics still are bailing out the opposition with overly physical play. But they don't have to be this way, according to Crowder. "We've got to stop fouling. I've got to stop fouling," he said. "We've got to play with our feet and not our hands. I tend to gamble because I love to get steals. I've just got to pick spots on the court to get aggressive and better times to get aggressive and manage that well. We all do." Not coincidentally, though, the Celtics' fortunes turned once Crowder re-entered the game in the fourth quarter.
Thomas was in the process of sinking two floaters over Milwaukee coverage, sandwiching them around a Jabari Parker dunk that was the Bucks forward's third straight basket in a four-basket string.
His fourth, a backdoor layup, cut the Celtics lead to 100-95 with 4:23 left. But Avery Bradley and Thomas responded with back-to-back 3-pointers - the latter after Michael Carter-Williams lost the ball out of bounds for Milwaukee. Khris Middleton's 3-pointer kicked off a 7-0 Milwaukee run that cut the Celtics lead to 106-102 with 1:12 left, setting up Thomas' big assist.
The Celtics had turned the ball over on their previous three possessions when Thomas, late in the shot clock, drove the paint before finding just enough time to get the ball out to Crowder. "One of the five best passes I have ever seen," said Johnson, who turned in one of his best nights as a Celtic with 15 points, mostly off rolls to the rim and Thomas assists.
Jared Sullinger put it another way.
"That was impressive. I mean, come on. He's 5-foot-2," said Sullinger, who clearly doesn't buy into Thomas' listed height of 5-9. "For him to throw it over I think it was Giannis (Antetokounmpo), Greg Monroe and Jabari Parker - all guys that have 20-plus inches on him - that's impressive." Even better, for Crowder, was the Celtics' ability to start a five-game homestand in the right way.
"I just really wanted this game, starting this homestretch on the right foot," Crowder said. "Take care of tonight and I just didn't want to leave any doubt in our team and start the first quarter real good."
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