Danny Ainge refutes report that Isaiah Thomas has a fractured jaw


Friday morning on WEEI mid-day host Glenn Ordway claimed that Isaiah Thomas has been playing with a fractured jaw since he took an errant Otto Porter elbow to the face in Sunday's game 1 matchup against the Washington Wizards, dislodging his front tooth in the process. Via WEEI.com:

“He fractured his jaw. That’s what happened,” Ordway said Friday on Ordway, Merloni & Fauria. “The elbow hit his jaw and then what ended up happening is that tooth had no support system off the bone and the complete tooth came out. It was fractured deep inside and it popped out and he had two others that apparently were displaced.

“This is not a cosmetic thing. This is not, ‘Oh, big deal. He looks like a hockey player. He’s lost three teeth and can go out there and look funny.’ No, he not only has pain, but he has a situation in which three teeth have been totally displaced. He has to concentrate on what he’s doing. Apparently they took him in and it was a fairly serious situation where they had to put him under and everything else.”

While Ordway is on the money that this is more serious than just some cosmetic damage, his use of the words 'fractured jaw' isn't all that accurate. According to head coach Brad Stevens he hasn't hear anything about Thomas' jaw being fractured:


Celtics President of Basketball Operations Danny Ainge also denied that stating "Isaiah does not have a broken jaw" (via CBS), and he provided a little more insight into what is exactly going on with Isaiah mouth/jaw/teeth:


Not sure where Ordway got the broken jaw info from, but clearly Isaiah has been playing through a significant pain in his mouth regardless. He went through 10 hours of oral surgery between Monday and Tuesday before game 2 and missed the start of the 2nd half last night after his fake replacement teeth got knocked out again in the 1st half.

Isaiah said he's done with the dentist until after the playoffs:


Seems to me the teeth problems aren't hampering IT all that much, seeing as he dropped 53 in game 2 after spending the day in the dentist's chair.


Photo Credit - Barry Chin/Boston Globe Staff

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