Thomas scored 53 points Tuesday night in helping the Boston Celtics reach a 2-0 series lead over the Washington Wizards.
Boston Celtics star Isaiah Thomas was lisping when he delivered his post-game press conference Sunday due to a missing tooth.
The Game 2 victory in the Eastern Conference second-round series came on what would have been Chyna Thomas' 23rd birthday if she hadn't been killed in a auto crash on April 15.
The All-Star led the Celtics to a first-round win over Chicago in a haze after learning the day before the series began that his younger sister, Chyna Thomas, had died in a auto accident outside of his native Tacoma, Washington.
The Celtics overcame a sluggish start as they trailed the Wizards 16-0 early in game one.
Thomas also had his left front tooth knocked out after being struck in the face by an elbow from Washington's Otto Porter midway into the first quarter. Marcin Gortat had 14 points and 10 rebounds and Markieff Morris scored 16 for the Wizards, but both fouled out in overtime.
One more point on Tuesday would have seen Thomas - who underwent six hours of dental surgery on Monday and a further four to five on the day of the game - tie John Havlicek's Celtics record for the most points in a playoff game. Isaiah Thomas led the way with 33 points and nine assists, Jae Crowder drained six three-pointers on his way to 24 points, Al Horford added 21 points with nine rebounds and 10 assists while Avery Bradley chipped in with 18 points and four assists.
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Game 2 is Thursday in Oakland.
But Bradley did, and he went on to hit a 3-pointer with 7:09 remaining in regulation to give the Celtics the lead, and he also had a steal and dunk on an impressive individual effort in overtime. "I always said pain is temporary".
John Wall had 40 points and 13 assists for the Wizards. "I feel like he made some big plays and just the way he played in the first half really helped us when we were hurting to score the ball".
As for Boston, they're going to keep on moving the ball and letting Al Horford work his magic as a stretch five that Marcin Gortat simply can not defend properly. The Celtics lead the Wizards in the second and third quarter of the Game.
"I was playing great defense on him 1-on-1", said Wall.
Three-point shooting was the difference maker in this contest with the Celtics red-hot from beyond the arc.
The Wizards, who led 42-29 after the first period, became the first team since the National Basketball Association introduced a shot clock in 1954 to lose the first two games of a playoff series after leading each by 10 or more points at the end of the first quarter.
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