The Boston Celtics got off to a rough start against the Washington Wizards in Game 1 of the Eastern Conference Semifinals on Sunday, but no one had a tougher time than Isaiah Thomas — in the dental department at least.
Midway through the first quarter, Thomas had one of his front teeth knocked out. It happened on a play where he was trying to steal the ball from Wizards forward Otto Porter Jr. and was elbowed in the face. Thomas calmly picked the tooth up off the floor and soldiered on.
Would love to see a hockey player lose a tooth and stay in the game just once. #BasketballTough pic.twitter.com/Y0OnTxNQOb
— Pardon My Take (@PardonMyTake) April 30, 2017
There’s no way that felt good.
Ouch. pic.twitter.com/aPCqaZzRUv
— CBS Sports (@CBSSports) April 30, 2017
How did Thomas respond? By draining back-to-back 3-pointers, of course. Would you expect anything less from a guy who has overcome more adversity in the last two weeks than most players will in an entire career?
Unfortunately, we saw something very similar happen to another NBA player about a year ago (video here). And here we were thinking only hockey players lose their chiclets on a regular basis.
The Celtics’ medical staff was somehow able to put the tooth back into place. Thomas missed just a few minutes in the second quarter while receiving treatment.
