As the Boston Celtics head into Game 3 against the Cleveland Cavaliers without team leader Isaiah Thomas, the point guard is bracing for possible hip surgery.
On Sunday, Celtics head coach Brad Stevens told reporters Thomas will be meeting with more specialists about his hip injury and that he could require surgery, per Adam Himmelsbach of the Boston Globe.
Thomas injured his hip on Friday night in Game 2 against the Cavs. The Celtics announced it was a “re-aggravation of a right femoral-acetabular impingement with labral tear.” Originally, Thomas had hurt his hip in mid-March, and he aggravated it again in Game 6 of the team’s series against the Washington Wizards.
Even with Thomas, Boston has been severely outmatched against Cleveland thus far. Without him, it seems likely the Celtics will be swept out of the Eastern Conference Finals.
Still, one cannot look at the 2016-17 season as anything but a huge success story for this team. In addition to earning the top seed in the east and making it to the conference finals, the C’s have the No. 1 overall pick in the upcoming 2017 NBA Draft.
Hopefully Thomas’ injury is one that is nothing more than a minor setback that surgery can correct, if surgery is necessary.