Boston Celtics fans can finally exhale—Isaiah Thomas won't be suspended for Game 4 after all.
After plenty of speculation that the All-Star point guard would be suspended following his closed-fist hit of the Atlanta Hawks‘ Dennis Schroder in Game 3, the NBA has officially assessed Thomas a flagrant-1 for the incident, not a suspension.
NBA rule calls for an automatic ejection and one-game suspension for a closed-fist hit. In this case, the league did not feel Thomas' contact with Schroder's head warranted a suspension.
Following the game, Thomas didn't feel the incident was going to result in a suspension or fine, according to ESPN's Ohm Youngmisuk:
“I didn't mean to hit his head. He got mad. He was talking. It's playoff basketball. That's what it's about. I'm not going to back down from anybody, and he knows that.”
The Celtics should feel relieved as they will look to tie the series at two-all when they play the Hawks at TD Garden on Sunday night. Thomas scored a game-high 42 points in Friday night's victory, and the team is already missing guard Avery Bradley due to a hamstring injury.
Considering how physical things got between the two teams on Friday, don't expect much to change in terms of style of play come Sunday.
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