Ainge: Someone Other Than Isaiah Has To Step Up For Celtics On Offense
BOSTON (CBS) -- The news continues to be good for Celtics guard Isaiah Thomas.
While their Game 5 loss to Atlanta put them in a 3-2 series hole, it appears Boston's leading scorer avoided any serious injury when he suffered a mild ankle sprain early in the fourth quarter. Though he didn't return to Boston's blowout loss, Thomas and the team sound confident he'll be back out there for Thursday night's must-win Game 6 in Boston.
"Isaiah is a go if he had a cast on his foot. I'm almost certain he'll be playing Game 6," Celtics president Danny Ainge told 98.5 The Sports Hub's Toucher & Rich on Wednesday. "I'm amazed that he shows up every night, as much of a physical toll he takes. He has to exert so much energy just to score among the trees. He's a warrior. He's been a little beat up, but not too bad. He'll be ready for Game 6."
The Atlanta defense blanketed Thomas with double teams throughout the game Tuesday night, holding him to just seven points on 3-of-12 shooting. Thomas said after the game he needs his teammates to step up, and Ainge said Wednesday the onus is on Boston's supporting cast to figure out their offensive woes and turn things around in Game 6.
"Instead of us sitting here feeling like we wet the bed last night, we have to figure out why we're struggling scoring. They are doing a great number on Isaiah Thomas and we have to have other guys step up," said Ainge. "We have to get the ball to the open guys because they're putting two or three guys on Isaiah and we have to spread the ball. We have to quit looking for Isaiah so much and other guys have to step up and be assertive offensively.
"Isaiah missed some shots he would normally make, but that's not the issue or why we lost the game. They decided to take him out; it's like putting eight guys on the line of scrimmage to stop the run game so you have to pass to win against good teams. They're taking Isaiah out; I don't care who you are, there are maybe a handful guys in the history of the game who can beat double teams consistently," he added. "The rest of our guys have to be assertive and we have to stop looking for Isaiah so much. They have to be able to knock down shots."
Ainge was asked about possibility of guard Avery Bradley, who suffered a hamstring injury in Game 1, returning this series.
"We need Avery really bad, but we can't risk that unless he shows me he's 100 percent," said Ainge. "I'm personally not counting on him playing."
Listen to the full interview, including Ainge's thoughts on whether head coach Brad Stevens is waiting too long to call timeouts during Atlanta runs. He also touched on how he would judge the 2015-16 season should the Celtics fail to advance out of the first round: