OAKLAND, Calif. — While Isaiah Thomas and Brad Stevens were in the gym at the University of San Francisco this morning playing down the guard’s recent critical remarks about coaching decisions, Danny Ainge was on the other side of the continent balancing the future and the present.

The Celtics president of basketball operations was scouting potential draftees and working the phones to keep the 2016-17 edition on the proper track.

Ainge spoke with Thomas yesterday after the All-Star had questioned Brad Stevens’ substitution pattern in Monday’s loss to the Clippers. It was the second time this season Thomas had let his frustration out in a public fashion, and Ainge defended his coach while trying to make it a learning experience for his star.

“Nobody prepares more for a game than Brad,” Ainge told the Herald, “not even Isaiah, who really prepares. Players don’t know what it’s like to coach. I took Isaiah’s comments as frustration. He hates to lose. But good leaders don’t look for blame. It’s easy to lead when things are going well. It’s much more difficult when adversity strikes. And everyone will face adversity.

“I know Brad is a great coach — even one of the best — but that doesn’t mean he won’t make a mistake, just like great players do. But I know he will learn from his mistakes because he doesn’t look to place blame but looks internally for what he can do to maximize his talent.”

That last comment can be taken as a hint for Thomas.

“I talk with Isaiah about becoming a better leader, and I think he can and will develop into one,” said Ainge. “He, too, will learn from this.”

Before the morning session to prepare for meeting with the Warriors on the other side of the bay, Thomas at first joked, “It’s you guys’ fault, man.

“Nah,” he went on, “it’s whatever. It happens. I didn’t mean to throw anybody under the bus. That’s not me. I just said how I felt at that time. My job is to just to move on and do my job and don’t make it a distraction, because it’s not.

“I didn’t do it to throw anybody under the bus. I was frustrated. I thought we should have won the last two games, and that’s just how I felt. I mean, I was always taught to speak my mind. But for the most part, I don’t want to be a distraction. My teammates know that. It’s bigger than how I feel, I guess. I’m just going to move forward and look forward to tonight, and hopefully we can get a win.”

It was then pointed out to Thomas that he probably needs to realize his increased status as a player brings more scrutiny to his words.

“For sure,” he said. “I mean, I’ve got to do a better job of calming down after tough games, tough losses. But I’m always going to be me, and that’s the only way I know how. And like I said to Brad, I’m not here to throw anybody under the bus, because I wouldn’t want anybody to do that to me. That’s just how I felt at that time. And, yes, I’ve got to do a better job of it, and I know that, but I’m here to be Isaiah Thomas and lead and win games. And I know if we win, that wouldn’t even have been a problem.”

According to Stevens, the way Thomas dealt with things after speaking to the media in L.A. kept it from being an obstacle.

“Isaiah reached out to me really quickly,” said the coach. “If it would have been reversed, where I would have had to initiate it, I think that may be an issue. But it wasn’t, so, again, I didn’t lose any sleep over it.

“I didn’t put much thought into it until it became a deal that everybody was talking about, and, at the point in time, I heard from Isaiah pretty quickly. So I don’t put a lot of stock (into it). I understand the emotions and how high they run at the end of games, win or lose. I have to go out there every day and talk after the game, too, and it’s not an easy thing to do all the time. And so I get it, and I’m OK with the fact that people are going to say some things, and you may have to have that moment where you communicate back and forth. But I don’t put too much stock into it, to be honest.”

Thomas’ displeasure Monday stemmed from the Celtics’ losing a 13-point third-quarter lead. They were ahead by six when he came out of the game and were down eight when he returned in the fourth period. In the interim, the C’s, already playing without Al Horford and Jonas Jerebko, went fairly deep into their bench. Thomas referred to it as “experimenting.”

“That may be the way he views things,” said Stevens. “Maybe it’s the way that he saw that stuff play out. But from our standpoint the other night, it was more about bodies available and foul trouble. So it’s part of it. Hey, we didn’t play well. None of the groups in that last 16 minutes had a great 16 minutes, and I think that ultimately we played great up to that point, and that was the most encouraging part of the game the other night. And we’ll just have to get better at being better late. We played a really good team. It’s hard to beat the Clippers at their place. If you have any residual effect tonight, you’ve got no chance.”

Added Stevens, “I’m not worried about it. I know it’s something to talk about, and one of the things I’ve learned in the NBA is that you have 82 games, so you’re going to ride this roller coaster of emotions game to game and everything else. But I think you’ve just got to do your best regardless of scenario to move on to what’s next.”

The Celts seem to be doing that, according to Thomas.

“Nobody’s even talked about it,” he said. “We’re not even worried about that. It’s a distraction because y’all keep talking about it. I mean, nobody’s even brought it up one time. But it is what it is. That’s what happens, I guess, when (that’s) who I am now. But I’ve got to do a better job, and I will, and I understand that.”