WALTHAM, Mass. -- The year 2016 could not have ended on a better note for Isaiah Thomas.
He scored a career-high 52 points, the most ever scored by a Celtics guard on the parquet floor. And they won the game, 117-114, over the Miami Heat.
Calls and texts came in from family, friends, former coaches as well as fellow players.
“It was pretty cool,” Thomas said.
But the feel-good vibes of that Dec. 30 night didn’t quite have the same universal appeal 24 hours later.
Because in that time span, Houston’s James Harden -- another elite scorer -- dropped 53 points in the Rockets’ 129-122 win over the New York Knicks.
Oh, there’s more.
Harden also racked up 17 assists and 16 rebounds for the first-ever triple-double in which the player scored 50 or more points while dishing out 15 or more assists along with grabbing at least 15 rebounds.
Thomas acknowledged after Boston’s practice on Monday that he was watching the Rockets game when Harden had the ginormous triple-double.
Harden is one of the league’s elite scorers, but you have to wonder if Thomas’ 52-point performance just the night before may have sparked Harden to go out and try to top that mark.
“Maybe; he didn’t even let me get 24 hours of shine,” grinned Thomas. “He had to kill my little shine. But that was unbelievable what he did. That’ probably never going to happen other than by himself. He’s special.”