Isaiah Thomas sprains middle finger of shooting hand, plans to play through injury
Celtics fans got a bit of a scare following a win over the Indiana Pacers on Saturday.
Isaiah Thomas initially jammed his middle finger of his left (shooting) hand in the Celtics' previous matchup against New York. Thomas suited up and played a full game the next night against the Pacers, but further frustrated that middle finger in the third quarter. If you didn't notice this, I don't blame you since he went on to put up 12 of his 23 points in the forth quarter. After this strong finish, Thomas admitted the numbness in that sore middle finger:
It's funny how, even when losing feeling in one of his shooting fingers, Thomas is still the best free-throw shooter on the team (he was 14 of 15 from the charity stripe in the game).
Anyway, despite Thomas' forth quarter success, the real scare came when he couldn't bend his finger in the locker room after the win:
As these tweets hint at, Thomas will be ok. His x-rays came back negative and he plans to play through the pain on Monday when the Celtics face off against the New Orleans Pelicans:
Although he played through the pain against Indiana and plans on continuing to do so, this injury is something to note and monitor closely. The Washington product has been continuing his surge towards the "elite" status this season, but was uncharacteristic in the first half of Saturday's game as he struggled to score. It is very likely that it took some time for him to adjust to shooting with numbness and a large bump on one of his shooting fingers.
However, based on his 12-point fourth quarter, we can be optimistic that Isaiah can still lead the team on offense despite his sprained finger. If the injury were to worsen or limit him in any way, it would obviously be a huge hit to an already banged-up Celtics team.
Follow Erik Johnson on Twitter: @erikjohnson32
Isaiah Thomas initially jammed his middle finger of his left (shooting) hand in the Celtics' previous matchup against New York. Thomas suited up and played a full game the next night against the Pacers, but further frustrated that middle finger in the third quarter. If you didn't notice this, I don't blame you since he went on to put up 12 of his 23 points in the forth quarter. After this strong finish, Thomas admitted the numbness in that sore middle finger:
Thomas scored 12 in fourth despite sprained middle finger. "I couldn't feel the ball."— Mark Murphy (@Murf56) November 13, 2016
It's funny how, even when losing feeling in one of his shooting fingers, Thomas is still the best free-throw shooter on the team (he was 14 of 15 from the charity stripe in the game).
Anyway, despite Thomas' forth quarter success, the real scare came when he couldn't bend his finger in the locker room after the win:
IT hurt finger last game and got worse in 3rd qtr. Asked about next game: "I'm gonna play, just gotta figure out how to shoot!" #CelticsTalk pic.twitter.com/Skc0ow5Pzj— Abby Chin (@tvabby) November 13, 2016
Right now IT can't bend sprained middle finger on shooting hand. Still plans to play. pic.twitter.com/A96GB710aI— Mark Murphy (@Murf56) November 13, 2016
As these tweets hint at, Thomas will be ok. His x-rays came back negative and he plans to play through the pain on Monday when the Celtics face off against the New Orleans Pelicans:
Isaiah Thomas sprained his left middle finger tonight. X-rays were negative. #NEBHInjuryReport— Boston Celtics (@celtics) November 13, 2016
Although he played through the pain against Indiana and plans on continuing to do so, this injury is something to note and monitor closely. The Washington product has been continuing his surge towards the "elite" status this season, but was uncharacteristic in the first half of Saturday's game as he struggled to score. It is very likely that it took some time for him to adjust to shooting with numbness and a large bump on one of his shooting fingers.
However, based on his 12-point fourth quarter, we can be optimistic that Isaiah can still lead the team on offense despite his sprained finger. If the injury were to worsen or limit him in any way, it would obviously be a huge hit to an already banged-up Celtics team.
Follow Erik Johnson on Twitter: @erikjohnson32