CHICAGO -- For the better part of the past week, the Boston Celtics have been in a fog. There had been an anticipation and an excitement as the top-seeded Celtics prepared for the start of the postseason, but the mood of the team understandably shifted when All-Star point guard Isaiah Thomas' sister died in a car accident on the eve of the first-round opener against the Chicago Bulls.
The locker room had been quiet and somber. Players weren't certain how to act or how best to comfort Thomas after he elected to stay with the team for Games 1 and 2 in Boston. Celtics president of basketball operations Danny Ainge tried to get players to tell jokes to each other Thursday, hoping to somehow ease the frustrations after Boston lost the first two games of the series.
Thomas used the two-day break in the series to sneak home to Tacoma, Washington, on Wednesday morning to be with his family and grieve the loss of his sister, Chyna. He flew to Chicago and joined the team Thursday night. He seemed to have renewed energy and zest in the hours leading up to tipoff of Friday's Game 3.
Much-needed levity and inspiration arrived in the form of a smartphone video recorded by Kevin Garnett. When Avery Bradley showed the video to Thomas on Friday morning, Thomas decided the entire team needed to see it before tipoff. And Garnett's high-energy, high-expletive message re-energized a Boston locker room before what was essentially a must-win game.
A Celtics team that went with a curveball lineup change -- coach Brad Stevens inserted veteran swingman Gerald Green in place of center Amir Johnson -- dominated the first quarter, withstood Chicago's rally from a 20-point deficit and emerged with a 104-87 triumph that trimmed Boston's series deficit to 2-1.
Game 4 is on Sunday night in Chicago.
Winning has a way of curing a lot of what ails teams. But Boston's locker room felt different after Friday's game. Thomas, who departed the locker room before reporters entered after Games 1 and 2, was smiling and talking with teammates after the victory.
"I think it was good for him to go away and be with his family and come back with sort of a fresh start," Celtics forward Jae Crowder said.
Added center Al Horford: "I thought Isaiah was great. ... He was very poised. I'm definitely proud of him, the way he’s been able to handle everything and the way he got it together and put [on] a great performance tonight."
As players gushed about what Garnett's video message did to inspire the team, there was a renewed swagger about the Celtics. The tenor of this series already had begun shifting Friday morning, when the Bulls announced that Rajon Rondo would be out indefinitely with a fractured thumb. Boston's victory only confirmed that the series is far from over.
And Boston's inspired play Friday left players more confident in the team moving forward.
"We weren’t coming here hoping to get a win," Bradley said. "We knew we were coming here to win both games."
Bradley scored 15 points as Boston put five players in double figures. He added seven rebounds and seven assists over 36 minutes, all while embracing the defensive challenge of guarding both Jimmy Butler and Dwyane Wade.
"Avery did a lot of good things," Stevens said. "I couldn’t take him out of the game."
Green's presence helped space the floor at the start of both halves, and he battled through a twisted ankle to play 20 minutes. Boston's bench players responded with quality minutes, particularly in the second half, while Thomas got an extended rest spanning into the fourth quarter.
Asked if he got what he wanted out of the lineup change, Stevens deadpanned, "I was hoping to win."
The Celtics can build off this. The fog isn't going to just disappear, and Stevens acknowledged that Thomas will still have moments that are difficult as he copes.
But Boston looked a lot more like its old self Friday. Now the Celtics are hoping they can build off it and get back to playing the fun brand of basketball that had them excited about the postseason a week ago.