Thomas dedicates 53-point game to late sister

— -- BOSTON -- Intensive dental work prior to Tuesday's night's Game 2 wasn't about to slow Boston's Isaiah Thomas, not on the night of what would have been t he 23rd birthday of his late sister Chyna.

Thomas poured in 53 points -- 29 of them coming in the fourth quarter and overtime as Boston beat the Washington Wizards, 129-119, to take a 2-0 lead in the series.

Chyna Thomas was killed in an auto accident last month, a day before the Celtics playoff opener.

Thomas said on TNT that his sister wouldn't want him to stop playing and that's what drives him. He said reality sets in when he's not playing and that's when the reality sets in.

Thomas shot 18 of 33 from the floor, including 5-for-12 from beyond the arc. He also grabbed four rebounds and four assists.

Thomas is the only Celtics player to have a 50-point game in the regular season and the playoffs in the same season.

"He was not feeling good and was having a tough day," said Celtics coach Brad Stevens. "I thought he was really going to have to gut this one out. He not only guts it out, he ends up with 50."

Thomas discomfort and dental issues were a result of having one of his left front teeth ejected in the first quarter of Boston's Game 1 victory Sunday. An initial attempt to reposition the tooth by team doctors at the arena was unsuccessful, but that didn't deter Thomas from scoring a game-high 33 points as Boston rallied from a 17-point deficit to win.

Thomas missed practice Monday while undergoing oral surgery, and Stevens said he believes the All-Star point guard had to undergo more work before Tuesday's game, in part because the damage was more than just the lost tooth.

"The tooth that was knocked out was not the only one that was affected. So he had some other issues there," Stevens said. "So he was in getting oral surgery [Monday]. A few hours after practice ended, he came by the office for a minute, but was still ... I don't know if he went back to the dentist's today or went to the hospital today just to work on it some more, but he's continued to have some work on it."

Stevens said Thomas was fitted for custom mouthguards for additional protection soon after oral surgery.

ESPN's Chris Forsberg contributed to this report.