Thomas' 53 come on late sister's birthday: 'Least I could do is play for her'

In an outing that will go down as one of the greatest in NBA playoff history, Isaiah Thomas scored 53 points in the Boston Celtics' Game 2 overtime win against the Washington Wizards.

Tuesday would have been his late sister Chyna's birthday. She was killed in a Washington state car accident on April 15. On Saturday, Thomas attended her funeral.

"She would have been 23 today," Thomas told reporters postgame. "The least I could do is play for her."

In a performance reminiscent of Brett Favre throwing for 399 yards and four touchdowns the day after his father died in 2003, Thomas went 18-for-33 from the floor and 5-of-12 from deep. He scored 29 of his points in either the fourth quarter or overtime. The 53 points were the second-most in a playoff game in franchise history, behind only John Havlicek's 54 in 1973.

"Everything I do is for her," Thomas told TNT's David Aldridge on the game broadcast, as transcribed by ESPN's Chris Forsberg. "And she's watching over me, so that's all her. My family, friends, they just tell me to keep going. My sister wouldn't want me to stop. The only thing about it, once I leave this gym, I hit reality and she's not here ... but when I'm in this arena, I can lock in and I know everything I do is for her."