BOSTON — It won’t end with them in Boston if the Celtics reach their ultimate destination. But it can easily be argued that the road back toward being an NBA champion started in earnest when Jae Crowder and Isaiah Thomas came to Boston.
The Celtics were floundering midway through the second year under Brad Stevens when Celtics president of basketball operations Danny Ainge pulled the plug on the Rajon Rondo era — sending him to the Dallas Mavericks for a package that included a presumed throw-in: Crowder.
Two months later, Ainge traded for Thomas. By the end of the season, the Celtics had gone from NBA draft lottery favorites to a playoff team. Two years after that, they were in the Eastern Conference finals.
While Crowder and Thomas will now be among those trying to prevent the Celtics from taking the next step to the NBA Finals after they were traded to the Cleveland Cavaliers in exchange for Kyrie Irving in a late-summer blockbuster deal, their impact on the team’s rise from the cellar to the league’s main stage was a major one.
“We took pride in trying to build from what we had and get into the playoffs each and every year,” Crowder said before his return to the parquet in a wine and blue jersey Wednesday night. “We started something special and these guys are doing a great job of keeping it going. They have a great young team.”
While Thomas was greeted with a standing ovation in his return Wednesday — which he sat out on the second night of a back-to-back as he returns from the hip impingement that knocked him from last year’s conference finals — Crowder’s reception was far less certain before the game.
He clashed with Celtics fans on social media last year after expressing his disapproval of the ovation impending free agent Gordon Hayward received at TD Garden when he was a member of the Utah Jazz. Throw in an uneven playoffs, and his less-than-enthusiastic response to Boston stocking up on talented wing players in the offseason, and his exit from town was a bit rockier than that of the beloved Thomas.
“Mixed,” he said of the feedback he gets from Boston fans. “It wasn’t my choice to leave. But it’s a business.”
Crowder did receive an overwhelmingly positive response when he was introduced as part of the Cleveland starting lineup Wednesday night as he was introduced last and received a mini-tribute video on the Jumbotron.
“Jae came here, like a lot of guys came here, where they were coming from probably having a little lesser opportunity,” Celtics coach Brad Stevens said before the game. “This was a chance to be on the court and a chance to show they are not only good players, but they can add value to winning. That’s two separate things sometimes. He did both here. He did a really good job. He’s continued that.”
Stevens said it was not a surprise to him that Crowder had one of his best games of the season with Thomas back on the court Tuesday night in Cleveland as he scored 17 points with four 3-pointers.
“It felt amazing,” Crowder said of the game. “I was excited just to see him get back out on the court. I’ve been with him through the whole process. To see him suit up was amazing. He felt good. I felt good for him. It felt good to play alongside him again.”
Crowder entered the night averaging 8.8 points and 3.1 rebounds, after averaging 13.9 points and 5.8 rebounds for the Celtics last year.
“I’m good,” he said. “I’m a big part of what we do over here. I took a lesser role with shots and stuff on the offensive end. But I’m OK with that when our main goal is strictly championship."
On the possibility of seeing his old team down the road in the conference finals, Crowder said he’s all for that, too.
“Very, very possible,” he said with a smile. “I would like that. I would like that a lot. It would be fun.”
Morris' number called
Semi Ojeleye (back bruise) was available for the Celtics Wednesday after missing the past four games with a back bruise
Stevens went to Marcus Morris in the starting lineup in place of Aron Baynes. Morris was not available for the season opener as he sat with knee pain coming out of training camp.
“They are super skilled,” Stevens reasoned. “Obviously, [Kevin] Love at [center] is a tough cover. It kind of forces your hand, in some ways, to match up.”