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NBA EASTERN CONFERENCE FINALS: CELTICS VS CAVALIERS

May 18, 2017

Isaiah Thomas

Boston, Massachusetts: Practice Day

Q. What went through your mind when you found out [you made All-NBA Second Team]?
ISAIAH THOMAS: He just told me. It's a blessing, a blessing from God, for the Celtics for giving me an opportunity to be myself and my teammates, it's not just, I guess, something for me, it's for this team. They allow me to be who I am and they like me for who I am, so that says a lot about this team and this organization.

Q. Does Second Team seem about right, or were you thinking First Team?
ISAIAH THOMAS: What do you think? No, it don't seem right. But I'm blessed, man. I'm appreciative. It's been a pretty good year for my team and for myself individually, so I mean, that kind of stuff goes to my teammates and this organization.

Q. I know it's still sinking in, but the 60th pick?
ISAIAH THOMAS: I mean, I always knew I could do what I'm doing right now, but that was just proving to other people. I mean, it says a lot, but I want to be so much better. I've got so much more room for improvement in so many areas. That was definitely a goal of mine, and we got it. Now it's on to bigger and better things.

Q. You said last night it wasn't really anything that they did; what do you have to do differently?
ISAIAH THOMAS: I mean, there's nothing to figure out. They play their traditional way. I mean, they definitely showed a few bodies that was aggressive on me, but that's nothing I haven't seen this whole year. I mean, I've seen it all. Like I said, it's nothing like the Wizards were doing where they showed and had three guys on me, or like the Bulls were playing on top of me and trying to be very physical. They're playing their traditional ways, but sometimes they do trap me a little bit, but there's nothing that I needed to figure out. I've just got to be more aggressive, make plays, make shots, and go from there.

Q. Did you like the shots you guys were getting?
ISAIAH THOMAS: Yeah, yeah, we got the shots. On offense, we just didn't knock them down, and then we couldn't stop nobody on that end, especially like LeBron, and then Kevin Love got going in the third quarter. But on offense we got what we wanted, we just didn't capitalize on it.

Q. What do you think are the biggest changes or alterations you need to make on defense?
ISAIAH THOMAS: We've just got to be more in tune as a group. Like we can't leave anybody on islands. We've got to let those guys see five guys in held position. I think if we do that -- the clips were showing that where we did that, we played good defense that possession, we got stops, but when we left guys on islands and by themselves and not talking and communicating, that's when they went on their run and opened the game up.

Q. Why do you think there were moments you guys weren't doing that last night?
ISAIAH THOMAS: It just happened. There's games like that where it happens. We seen what we did wrong on film, and now we've just got to execute what we need to do.

Q. Is this a test of your resilience now?
ISAIAH THOMAS: I mean, I guess so. We can't panic. It's only one game. It's one game. They took care of business, and we've just got to take care of business Game 2.

Q. You're a very confident guy; just how confident are you that you guys are going to win Game 2?
ISAIAH THOMAS: I'm very confident.

Q. Why is that?
ISAIAH THOMAS: Because I am. I believe in these guys. We're not scared of Cleveland. They're not the Monstars. They're not on Space Jam. Like they lace up their shoes just like us. They just happened to play better than us in Game 1, and we've just got to protect home court in Game 2 and get the win.

Q. What are your thoughts on the Celtics landing the number one pick?
ISAIAH THOMAS: I don't know. I try to just focus on what I'm doing on the court and let those guys focus on making those decisions, but whatever they do, I mean, whatever happens happens.

Q. Isn't the key to get the last pick?
ISAIAH THOMAS: No, there ain't going to be another last pick like that.

Q. Have you talked to Markelle Fultz?
ISAIAH THOMAS: Yeah, yeah, I talked to him. I talk to him all the time.

Q. Since the [Lottery]?
ISAIAH THOMAS: Yeah, for sure.

Q. What was said?
ISAIAH THOMAS: That was between me and him. He's excited, though. I mean, he obviously don't know where he's going, but I mean, he's excited about the opportunity.

Q. You've told him a lot about the culture here?
ISAIAH THOMAS: Yeah, he asks questions, I answer them, and I'm just -- he's a good friend of mine, so if it happens, like we'll figure out if we'll play together. If not, we'll go from there.

Q. They do the advertising for this series, they've got Steph on one side, Kawhi, LeBron, then they've got you representing the Celtics. How much do you feel kind of responsibility to make sure that this team does represent in this series and has a chance to win?
ISAIAH THOMAS: Oh, a big responsibility. Like we're not just happy to be here. Like we want to win this series, and that's what we're trying to do. We want to let everybody in this world know that we're for real, and we're one of the top teams in the NBA, and with this series we've got to go out and show the world because like everybody knows, everybody is counting us out, and we've been there before, though, so it's nothing new for us.

Q. Do you get the sense where I know you've dealt with your entire career, but this is where the 5'9" guy --
ISAIAH THOMAS: I mean, there's always something. I thought it would stop, but it won't probably ever stop. Even if we went to The Finals and won a championship, some way, somehow they're going to say something, something happened along the way. But that's just how it is.

Q. But you feed off that?
ISAIAH THOMAS: I do. I like it. It's been that way my whole life, so I just take it how it is.

FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports

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