Isaiah Thomas returns from knee injury, will start vs. Wizards

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article_body => "BOSTON -- Isaiah Thomas is back in the Celtics' starting lineup after missing two games with a knee injury. <\/p>\nAnd his return could not have come at a better time, with the Celtics hosting the Washington Wizards tonight. <\/p>\nThe C's (44-26) have the second-best record in the Eastern Conference this season, with the Wizards (42-27) on their heels at 1 1\/2 games back. <\/p>\nBoston needs to win tonight to have a shot at winning a tie-breaker if it finishes with an identical regular-season record as Washington.  And the return of Thomas, the league's No. 2 scorer at 29.2 points per game, can only help. <\/p>\nThe Celtics split a pair of road games at Brooklyn (win) and Philadelphia (loss) with Thomas back in Boston recovering from a bruised knee injury suffered against Minnesota last week. <\/p>\nThis season, the Celtics are just 2-4 when Thomas doesn't play, so his return to the lineup provides a much-needed boost in what will be a critical game to their potential seeding for the postseason. <\/p>\n"
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Celtics

BOSTON -- Isaiah Thomas is back in the Celtics' starting lineup after missing two games with a knee injury.

And his return could not have come at a better time, with the Celtics hosting the Washington Wizards tonight.

The C's (44-26) have the second-best record in the Eastern Conference this season, with the Wizards (42-27) on their heels at 1 1/2 games back.

Boston needs to win tonight to have a shot at winning a tie-breaker if it finishes with an identical regular-season record as Washington. And the return of Thomas, the league's No. 2 scorer at 29.2 points per game, can only help.

The Celtics split a pair of road games at Brooklyn (win) and Philadelphia (loss) with Thomas back in Boston recovering from a bruised knee injury suffered against Minnesota last week.

This season, the Celtics are just 2-4 when Thomas doesn't play, so his return to the lineup provides a much-needed boost in what will be a critical game to their potential seeding for the postseason.