Isaiah Thomas will play Tuesday night against the Chicago Bulls in Game 2 of the Celtics’ first round best-of-seven series (8 p.m., TNT, CSNNE).
Thomas’ sister, Chyna Thomas, died this past Saturday at 5 a.m. in a one-car accident in Tacoma, Washington. Chyna Thomas was not wearing a seatbelt at the time of the crash.
Thomas played Sunday night against Chicago in Game 1, scoring a game-high 33 points.
Funeral plans for Thomas’ sister are not yet known, but Thomas is expected to fly to Washington to be with his family immediately after tonight’s game. The Celtics organization is expected to fly to Washington as well to support Thomas this week.
“It’s really tough when he’s sitting there, and some of his family’s back in Seattle, and some of them came here to mourn with him,” Celtics head coach Brad Stevens told ESPN.com. “I think the next extension of your family is who you’re around every day, your team, and so these guys are really terrific teammates. They care about one another and they support one another. Obviously, that’s what you’d hope you have in a team. It’s probably not always the case.”
The Celtics and Bulls don’t play again until Friday after tonight’s game, with the game in Chicago.
