Celtics will let Isaiah Thomas decide if he needs to be away from team

Less than 48 hours ago, there was a lot of talk about whether or not the Boston Celtics could reach the Eastern Conference Finals and find a way to knock off the Cleveland Cavaliers. Suddenly, that no longer seems important.

Isaiah Thomas somehow found a way to score 33 points in a 106-102 loss to the Chicago Bulls in Boston’s first playoff game Sunday night. With Thomas having tragically lost his 22-year-old sister to a car accident the day before, it was unclear if he would even be able to suit up. And it remains unclear if he will continue to going forward.

Following Game 1 of the Eastern Conference quarterfinals, Celtics coach Brad Stevens said Thomas will take it day by day to decide if he needs to leave the team or not.

“Whatever he needs to do, he needs to do, and we’ll help in any way,” Stevens said, via Chris Mannix of The Vertical. “If he needs to and wants to stay here, then we’ll be here surrounding him. And if he wants to go to Seattle, then he should go to Seattle. It’s his call, and it should be. I told him [I’m] not going to ask him or make him make those decisions. Those have got to come on his own time, and then we’ll adjust accordingly.”

Those who watched pregame warmups on Sunday got to see first-hand just how much Thomas is hurting. If he decided he simply can’t play basketball at the moment, no one would blame him. Nothing could possibly prepare a player for losing a sibling in the middle of a season, let alone on the eve of the playoffs. Only Thomas can decide what he needs to do in order to begin healing.