Many players this NBA season are putting up some extraordinary numbers. Russell Westbrook is a triple double machine, currently having 26 triple doubles before the all-star game. He is well on his way of breaking that single season record. James Harden of the Rockets is really enjoying his new point guard role, having a league leading 44 double-doubles as of Friday. Then there is isaiah thomas of the Boston Celtics. Thomas is on a tear this season, embracing the star role he now has with the Celtics, becoming a bomber from deep, and a scoring machine in the fourth quarter.
His performances this season have him in a 3-man race for the MVP, and he has no sign of letting up on opposing defenses.
Slow Beginnings
Isaiah Thomas wasn't always your star point guard. He was drafted with the 60th and final pick of the NBA draft in 2011. Before being drafted, he was a standout at Washington, becoming All Pac-10 as a junior, leading his team in points and assist. Many scouts commented about Isaiah's height as he is only 5 feet 9 inches. He has been small all his life, but after realizing he wouldn't be taller, he used this as motivation to prove all of the doubters wrong. He struggled on the Sacramento Kings, never playing a full season and shooting roughly 35 percent from three.
He also had two seasons where he was minus in the plus/minus category. After three seasons with the Kings he was traded to the Suns where he improved but only started in one game for the team, his primary role was a role player. He was traded to the Celtics towards the trade deadline in the 2014-15 season. He didn't start for them the rest of that season, but nobody knew the explosion that was about to happen.
Sudden Stardom
In the 2015-16 season Isaiah Thomas found his groove. He started 79 of 82 games that season, averaging 22.2 PPG and dishing out 6.2 APG. He took on the role of the leader of a rather young Celtics team and led them into the playoffs as a five seed. Even though they lost to the Hawks in six games, many fans knew that the Celtics got themselves a big weapon, in a small package.
This NBA season he is simply electrifying, currently averaging roughly 30 PPG (if you round it, it's actually 29.9), dishing out 6.3 APG, and shooting 91 percent from the free throw line. He is putting the Celtics on his back and carrying them to a two seed in the east with a 34-19 record. He earned his first all-star appearance this season and he is making all those doubters look pretty dumb right now. Many experts thought the Celtics needed another star to be contenders, but that's not the case as Thomas is the star of the team. Where Isaiah really makes his mark is in the final 12 minutes of the game.
King of the Fourth
Isaiah is giving opposing defenses nightmares for the first three quarters, but as soon as the fourth quarter starts, coaches might as well throw away their clipboard.
No defensive scheme you can put together can stop this tank. Thomas is averaging over 10 PPG in the fourth quarter, easily tops in the league. If you really think about that stat, he scores 1/3 of his points in the final 12 minutes of the game. That is simply extraordinary. His performances in the fourth are on pace to the most points by a player in the fourth in 21 years. He was awarded Eastern Conference Player of the Month for January and he is making a case for back-to-back in February. He knows that his team looks to him in the fourth and now embraces his new role, even if it was forced on him slightly. It's something about the fourth quarter that brings out the beast in Isaiah but none of his teammates are complaining, as he is dropping dagger threes like its routine for him (well at this point it is.) His fourth quarter heroics are propelling him into the MVP race. He is must watch TV in the fourth, and many eyes will be on him from now on, as he is the face of the Celtics and a star in the NBA and the fourth quarter.
