Bradley's hand still hot after Cleveland buzzer-beater

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BOSTON - You'll hear and read a lot about Isaiah Thomas after the Celtics' 128-119 win over the Kings on Sunday - and rightfully so.

Thomas scored nine of the C's last 13 points as they held off the Kings down the stretch.

But before Thomas got hot, it was Avery Bradley keeping the team afloat. He finished with a team-high 25 points on 9-for-16 shooting, including 6-for-7 from three-point range.

Bradley picked up right where he left off in Cleveland, scoring 12 points on 4-for-5 shooting (3-for-4 from three-point range) in the first quarter despite only playing 6:20.

And he made sure to save room for the fourth quarter, when he tacked on eight points over a two-minute span that extended the Celtics lead from six points to 12 points just when it looked as if the Kings were going to close in. Bradley sandwiched a six-foot floater between two three-pointers, both assisted by Evan Turner.

The six three-pointers are the second-most he's made in a game this season, behind a 7-for-14 performance in a loss to the Nets on Nov. 22.

Sunday's performance comes on the heels of Bradley's game-winning three-pointer against the Cavs Friday night.

“I have an old coaching friend that always said, ‘When they hit a last-second shot, watch out the next game.’ You know? And it held true with Avery today," Brad Stevens said. "He was shooting and it looked pure every time it left his hands.  He made great plays shooting the ball but I thought he made great plays in the middle pick and roll too. One where he kept the guy on his hip and made a little floater, and then two passes that Tyler (Zeller) on the roll late that allowed Tyler to get to the line.”

Bradley hit Zeller on his way to the hoop with 4:14 remaining to put the C's up 14 after Zeller made the extra free throw. Zeller went back to the free throw line a little more than a mite later to make a nine-point game into an 11-point game. It was also the team's 114th and 115th point. Everybody was getting in on the offensive action.

"It is [fun]," Bradley said. "Whenever you get a chance to run up and down and move the ball like we did tonight, it's fun. And not only that, we were making shots. So whenever everybody is making shots, everybody is happy, so it's fun."

Bradley may have set the offensive tone early on with his made three-pointers, but it was due to the looks he was getting. All three of his three-pointers in the first quarter were assisted, and five of the six in total.

"I usually say defense is contagious. But yeah we were- Isaiah was moving the ball, finding the open guy, and we were just playing great team basketball," Bradley said. "Moving the ball and whoever was open was getting the open shot and we were knocking it down. Kelly [Olynyk] hit some big shots. Moving the ball is contagious and that's what we were doing just passing it, the next pass, the next pass, and getting wide open shots."

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