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Wednesday night against the Minnesota Timberwolves, Isaiah Thomas dropped 27 points to lead the Celtics to a 117-104 victory, and in the process joined an exclusive scoring club. But he also took a tough fall in the second half that left him with a bruised right knee. 

Because of that injury, Thomas will not be traveling with the team this weekend as they travel to Brooklyn and Philadelphia for games on Friday and Sunday, respectively.

Certainly the fact that their opponents are Brooklyn and Philadelphia, two teams the Celtics should be able to handle, even without Thomas, is a big factor in the Celtics deciding to keep Thomas in Boston. But it also shows that the Celtics are prioritizing health down the stretch rather than going all-out for the No. 1 seed. 

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Isaiah Thomas after taking a tough fall against the Timberwolves, which injured his knee. USATSI

Just two games behind Cleveland, with a game still to play between the two teams, the top spot in the East is within reach. But with J.R. Smith, and now Kevin Love, back in the lineup for Cleveland, and LeBron James suddenly a triple-double machine, it would take a magnificent stretch of basketball for Boston to overtake the defending champs. 

In sitting Thomas, the Celtics aren’t conceding that race, but they’re showing they value health over home-court advantage. If this were to happen in the playoffs, there’s little doubt Thomas would be playing, as he texted a Boston Globe reporter saying he’ll be “fine,” and the team doesn’t seem too concerned about any long-term issue. 

For a Celtics team that often relies on Thomas scoring at an impressive clip to win, they will need him as close to 100 percent as possible in the playoffs if they hope to make a run. And so resting him now, against two of the lesser teams in the conference, makes plenty of sense. In letting Thomas rest, they could perhaps see the No. 1 seed fall out of reach, but in doing so they know they’ll have set themselves up better for the long postseason.