There was an outpouring of love for Isaiah Thomas as he made his return to TD Garden for Wednesday night's game between the Boston Celtics and the Cleveland Cavaliers. Thomas, traded to Cleveland in August, received a standing ovation from fans when he was shown on the JumboTron before the start of the second quarter.
The 28-year-old point guard, who was sitting the bench in the second night of a back-to-back, had requested that a planned tribute video not be played for his first return to Boston, as he wanted to have some actual playing time and his family in attendance when they showed it. Instead, fans paid tribute with deafening applause.
While the Cavaliers lost the game 102-88, Thomas was all smiles as he hugged several of his former teammates after the game.
Afterwards, Thomas joked with reporters that when arriving at the game he almost fell on old habits and headed into the home side's locker room.
"I almost walked that way in their locker room," Thomas said. "No, I mean, I love this city, I love this organization. They've given me the opportunity to be who I always wanted to be, and I can't thank them enough. So there's no hard feelings to anybody in this city or anybody in this organization. And I'm glad I'm back.
"Like I always said, it's genuine love. And that's for the rest of my life here."
