BOSTON -- Boston Celtics rookie Carsen Edwards had one obvious NBA comparison entering the league, and he made the comparison a little more obvious when he chose that player’s former number upon joining the Celtics: Isaiah Thomas, who also wore the No. 4.
On Wednesday evening, Edwards took on Isaiah Thomas for the first time and had his best game as a pro to date (excluding his preseason explosion against the Cleveland Cavaliers). Edwards dropped 18 points on 7-for-12 shooting, making 4-for-5 from behind the arc. Several of his jumpers came off the bounce out of the pick-and-roll -- the types of shots Thomas used to pour in as a member of the Celtics.
The obvious comparison isn’t lost on Edwards. He said he admires the former King in the Fourth, who finished with 18 points on 7-for-14 shooting with seven assists on Wednesday.
“I used to watch him growing up, and a couple of years back when he was doing his thing,” Edwards said. “I’m a big fan of him, just the way he’s able to get his shot, things like that. A guy like him gives guys like me hope -- short guys that wanna make it. He changed the game at his height. The things he’s done helped me a lot.”
Edwards, at his best, plays somewhat similarly to Thomas. He can pull up on a dime from behind the arc out of the pick-and-roll, and he’s fearless against bigger defenders as a score-first guard who is considered undersized at the NBA level.
There are differences as well, of course. Edwards is several inches taller with longer arms, which helps him defensively, while Thomas is a better distributor and a better finisher in the paint. But as Edwards noted, being smaller means a player’s skill level needs to be extremely high.
“I feel there’s a lot of guys who are making it, man,” Edwards said. “It doesn’t have to be scoring-wise. If you’re making it to this point at your height, it’s tough.”
Kemba Walker praised Edwards’ performance, calling the rookie’s game “big time” on three separate occasions in his post-game comments.
“Carsen, he’s a guy who I spoke to a few days ago about staying ready,” Walker said. “He was big time tonight, and we needed it. We needed it. It was a point in time in the game when we was struggling a little bit, and he came in, and he turned us up a little bit.”
Brad Stevens added Brad Wanamaker to the mix when discussing the bench.
“What did Carsen end up with? It sure seemed like a lot,” Stevens said. “Brad has ben great for every time we have put him in all year. He’s had a real steady hand, and it has been great to see Carsen go off there. I thought everybody else had some moments for sure, but ultimately those two guys were excellent tonight off the bench.”