Isaiah Thomas on rivalry with Wizards: ‘Those guys don’t like us and we don’t like them’
The Celtics point guard wasn't shy about explaining the bitterness between the two squads
The Washington Wizards declined to wear all-black funeral attire to the TD Garden Monday night like we saw in January for their final regular season showdown of the year with the Celtics, but that did not stop the bad blood from flowing yet again between the two teams.
Terry Rozier and Wizards guard Brandon Jennings got into a physical dustup in the second quarter of the Celtics’ 110-101 win that earned both players technical fouls after a lengthy review.
Brandon Jennings clearly wants in on the Wizards-Celtics beef pic.twitter.com/Iuh9Fmf3tA
— Bleacher Report (@BleacherReport) March 21, 2017
That scuffle set the stage for another evening full of constant trash talking by players on both teams. After the contest, Isaiah Thomas was candid with reporters in assessing the intensity of the rivalry between the franchises after another heated affair.
“It was pretty cool. I like it. I like those type of games,” Thomas said after scoring 25 points in his return from a two-game absence. “We knew it was going to be like that. Those guys don’t like us, we don’t like them. That’s what it is.”
“There’s probably a little bitterness in there,” teammate Jae Crowder added. “But it’s a good old-fashioned battle.”
The added intensity paid dividends for the Celtics in the win, who brought themselves one step closer to earning the No. 2 seed in the Eastern Conference. Boston now owns a 2.5 game lead over Washington for the spot with under four weeks remaining in the regular season.
