No one can stop Isaiah Thomas right now. Well, no one except himself.
The Boston Celtics point guard, who’s enjoying an incredible 2016-17 campaign, will miss the team’s next two games due to a bone bruise on his right knee, the club announced Thursday.
Isaiah Thomas will not travel this weekend to NY and Philly. He's out with a right knee bone bruise. #NEBHInjuryReport
— Boston Celtics (@celtics) March 16, 2017
Thomas’ injury shouldn’t be cause for much concern, as Boston’s next two games are against two of the worst teams in the NBA: The Brooklyn Nets and Philadelphia 76ers. Besides, the 28-year-old probably could use a little extra rest heading into the postseason.
But there’s also this: After dropping a team-high 27 points Wednesday night in the Celtics’ win over the Minnesota Timberwolves, Thomas now has led the C’s in scoring in 32 consecutive games. That’s the fourth-longest streak in NBA history, and he’s only two games away from tying Kobe Bryant for the third-longest.
Isaiah Thomas had 27 Pts tonight to lead the Celtics in outright scoring for the 32nd straight game. He's in elite company, via @EliasSports pic.twitter.com/wmfBBqGoBG
— ESPN Stats & Info (@ESPNStatsInfo) March 16, 2017
Thomas won’t play Friday or Sunday, though, meaning that for the first time in 32 games, someone else will lead Boston in scoring Friday — and his streak technically will be over.
Of course, you could argue any game Thomas doesn’t play in shouldn’t count against his streak. Then again, neither Jordan nor Bryant missed a game during their respective scoring runs.
It’s ultimately all a moot point: Thomas is playing the best basketball of his career — he ranks second in the NBA in scoring with 29.2 points per game — and likely won’t get too worked up if his streak does or doesn’t end. Still, it’d be a shame to have his historic scoring binge cut short by a minor injury.
Thumbnail photo via Greg M. Cooper/USA TODAY Sports Images
