BOSTON -- After finishing with a team-high 20 points in a 111-97 Game 2 loss Tuesday, Boston Celtics point guard Isaiah Thomas plans to travel home to Washington on Wednesday to be with family after the death of his sister.
Celtics coach Brad Stevens said he expects Thomas to rejoin the team in Chicago in advance of Friday's Game 3 against the Bulls.
"He's going to go home [Wednesday] to Seattle and then he'll rejoin us in Chicago," Stevens said. "That's the plan of attack right now."
Stevens said he believes memorial plans are still incomplete for Chyna Thomas, who died Saturday at the age of 22 following a single-car accident in Washington. Stevens reaffirmed that, should the schedule allow, he'd like his team to attend any services.
"We would hope to [attend], for sure, [or] at least make that available to everybody," said Stevens. "But those plans have not been finalized. Or at least I haven't been told about it. Isaiah's just going back to be with his family."
Stevens said that the atmosphere around his team remains subdued as Thomas tries to cope with the loss of his sister.
"I said this the other day: It's hard. The bottom line, it's quiet," said Stevens. "But, hey, everybody really feels for the guy. We're together all the time, it's a great group of guys and we realize that we have a job to do and we have to prepare to do our job as well as we can. But at the same time there's a strong relationship there."
Despite the difficult circumstances, Thomas has led the Celtics in scoring in both of their playoff games, though the team trails the Bulls 2-0 in the best-of-seven series.
