Isaiah Thomas Returns to TD Garden, and the Celtics Respond with a Fourth-Quarter Firestorm
BOSTON - Nearly a decade after Isaiah Thomas lit up TD Garden for 52 points in a single game, the "King of the Fourth" was back in the building - and the Celtics made sure his return came with a proper tribute and a vintage fourth-quarter explosion of their own.
Now 36, Thomas was courtside Friday night, seated alongside his wife, Kayla, and Celtics majority owner Bill Chisholm. The crowd of over 19,000 showed him love all night, but the real moment came between the first and second quarters when the team rolled a tribute video celebrating his iconic 52-point performance against the Heat back in 2016. Thomas raised his hand in appreciation, and TD Garden roared like it was 2017 all over again.
By the fourth quarter, with Boston clinging to a narrow lead and the Heat threatening to steal momentum, the jumbotron flashed an old pump-up clip of Thomas. It was a fitting spark - because what followed was a fourth-quarter clinic that would’ve made I.T. proud.
The Celtics erupted for 37 points in the final frame, burying Miami beneath a barrage of threes and sealing a 129-116 win that snapped a two-game skid. They hit 10 of their 15 three-point attempts in the quarter - a new franchise record for threes in a fourth - and completely flipped the script after a shaky start from beyond the arc earlier in the game.
Jaylen Brown, Sam Hauser, and Derrick White led the charge, but it was a total team effort. Boston shot nearly 62% from the field in the final 12 minutes, turned it over just twice, and played with the kind of cohesion that’s defined their best stretches this season.
“I thought it was a great gesture to have I.T. back,” head coach Joe Mazzulla said postgame. “He’s done so much for the city and for the organization.
I came right at the tail end of him being here, but who he was as a person and a player says a lot about him. He sets an example - yes, it’s about winning, but when you’re a high-character guy, people appreciate you.
You leave a place better than you found it.”
Thomas only spent three seasons in Boston, but his impact has proven timeless. At 5-foot-9, he played with a chip on his shoulder and a heart that matched the city’s blue-collar spirit.
His 29-point fourth quarter against Miami in 2016 - still the most ever by a Celtic in a single frame - is etched in franchise lore. Friday night, the current roster paid homage not just with a tribute video, but with a performance that echoed his fearless, fourth-quarter mentality.
And Thomas was soaking it all in. He stood and applauded as the Celtics took control late. Brown, who played his rookie season alongside Thomas, smiled when asked about the moment.
“I.T. a legend,” Brown said in his walk-off interview. “I’m still mad he popcorned my car.”
That’s a callback to 2016-17, when Thomas pranked the then-rookie by filling his car with popcorn after a win over Minnesota - a classic vet move and a reminder of how tight that locker room was during Thomas’ run.
The Heat didn’t go quietly. Even without three starters - Tyler Herro, Andrew Wiggins, and Davion Mitchell - they kept things close.
Miami poured in 31 points in the third quarter and cut the deficit to just three heading into the fourth. But then the Celtics flipped the switch - and the game.
Within the first minute of the final quarter, Hauser hit back-to-back threes, the second coming after a steal by Hugo González. That quick seven-point swing forced Erik Spoelstra to call timeout, but the damage was already underway.
“Once they hit those four threes and we had the three turnovers, it was almost as if our minds went numb,” Spoelstra said. “Then we had a lot of mistakes that led to open threes. They were running different guys into the pick-and-roll… The issue was when we were making mistakes, it created confusion, and they got open threes that broke the game open from there.”
Spoelstra knows better than most - when Boston gets hot from deep, it can snowball in a hurry. And on this night, they caught fire at just the right time.
Mazzulla credited the defense for sparking the offense, pointing to the team’s ability to string together stops and limit Miami to one-shot possessions. That allowed Boston to push the pace, space the floor, and let the shooters do what they do best.
“That’s where the connectivity of that lineup has to be there,” Mazzulla said. “We have to be able to have a one-shot defense, and we have to be able to get out and run.”
The win was more than just a bounce-back - it was a reminder of what this Celtics team can be when they’re locked in. They defended with purpose, moved the ball with intent, and hit the kind of timely shots that swing playoff series, not just regular-season games.
And on a night when one of the most beloved Celtics of the last decade returned to the building, it felt like more than just a win. It felt like a passing of the torch - from one era’s fourth-quarter assassin to a new group that’s learning how to close games with the same kind of swagger.
As Mazzulla put it, nights like this are what make Boston basketball special.
“I always turn to Sam Cassell and I’m like, ‘man, this place is still packed,’” Mazzulla said. “People just appreciate really good basketball, and that’s what makes the job so special here.”
So does honoring your legends - and playing like them when it matters most.