Dennis Schröder and Isaiah Thomas are picking up right where they left off in their first-round playoff series last April.
After Thomas hit a game-winner with 2.4 seconds left to lift his Boston Celtics to a 103-101 road victory over Schröder’s Atlanta Hawks on Friday, Schröder put Thomas on blast, claiming that the All-Star point guard cursed at his mother in the stands during the game.
“I’m playing basketball,” Schröder said, per Chris Vivlamore of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. “If he think that he got to curse at my mom or say some dumb stuff about my family, that has nothing to do with basketball. That’s his choice. I’ve got too much class for that. Next one, we are going to get it.”
For his part, Thomas vehemently denied the claims on Twitter afterwards.
@CVivlamoreAJC not sure what the quote is referring to but one thing is certain I would never disrespect/talk trash about anyones family/mom
— Isaiah Thomas (@Isaiah_Thomas) January 14, 2017
@CVivlamoreAJC That type of trash talk is not my style & never has been. Flat out NEVER happened.
— Isaiah Thomas (@Isaiah_Thomas) January 14, 2017
The two players have a noted history with one another, dating back to their quarterfinal matchup last postseason. Thomas hit Schröder with a forearm in Game 3 of that series (video here) but claimed that the blow was unintentional. The NBA chose not to suspend Thomas for the incident, a decision that made Schröder “feel disrespected.”
Friday’s meeting was the first between the Celtics and the Hawks since that playoff series last year, and it’s clear that this latest alleged incident has only increased the bad blood between the two opposing point guards.
