BOSTON -- An undersized Celtics point guard wearing No. 4 helped spark Boston's offense Wednesday night.
No, this isn't 2017, and no, we're not talking about Isaiah Thomas. The Celtics' new "little guy" is rookie Carsen Edwards, who poured in a career-high 18 points off the bench on 7-of-12 shooting in a 140-133 win over the Washington Wizards.
It was fitting that Edwards' effort came opposite Thomas -- the last Celtic to wear No. 4 prior to Edwards -- who coincidentally added 18 points of his own in his second trip back to Boston since being traded in 2017.
To no one's surprise, the 5-foot-11 Edwards appreciates Thomas' game.
"I used to watch him growing up, and a couple of years back when he was doing his thing," Edwards said after the game. "I’m a big fan of him, just the way he’s able to get his shot."
Like Thomas, Edwards is a second-round pick (No. 33 overall) who comes into the NBA with a chip on his shoulder. But the last pick in the 2011 NBA Draft offers a perfect model for Edwards to follow.
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"A guy like him gives guys like me hope: short guys that want to make it," Edwards said. "He changed the game at his height. The things he’s done helped me a lot."
Edwards has a long way to go to become the two-time All-Star Thomas was in Boston.
But the 21-year-old Purdue product has shown an I.T.-like fearlessness early in his NBA career: After going 2-for-13 from 3-point range in his first four games, he's gone 7-for-12 since.
"He’s a guy who I spoke to a few days ago about staying ready,” Celtics guard Kemba Walker said of Edwards. “He was big time tonight, and 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."
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