Jae Crowder,LeGarrette Blount

Boston Celtics forward Jae Crowder, right, shakes hands with New England Patriots running back LeGarrette Blount after an NBA basketball game against the Houston Rockets in Boston, Wednesday, Jan. 25, 2017. The Celtics defeated the Rockets 120-109.

(AP Photo/Charles Krupa)

BOSTON - It's April 22, 2016, and Isaiah Thomas is trying to drag the Boston Celtics out of an 0-2 hole in their first-round playoff series against the Atlanta Hawks.

With Avery Bradley and Kelly Olynyk out due to injury and Jae Crowder clearly hobbled on a damaged ankle, the Hawks know they can focus mountains of attention on Thomas, but he busts through it all to notch a new career high with 42 points. Realizing the Celtics need a big night from him to consider moving on to the next round, he hammers the Hawks with a relentless mixture of long 3-pointers, daring drives and well-earned free throw attempts.

The Celtics never run away from their competition, but threaten to during the first quarter. During the team's opening burst - a desperate, frenzied run charged by the desire to avoid early elimination -Marcus Smart knocks the ball away from Paul Millsap, allowing Thomas to break free for a rare clean look. After the referee whistles for an and-one, Thomas celebrates the layup by walking over to a pair of New England Patriots running backs sitting in the front row.

The way Thomas slaps five with LeGarrette Blount, the two men look like old friends. Really, they are communicating for the first time, but the gesture sparks a relationship between Thomas, Blount and Crowder that will grow into one of the New England sports landscape's power friendships.

"He was hyped just as much as I was," Thomas recalls now. "So he came to the locker room, we exchanged numbers, and it's been a real little genuine relationship we've got."

Patriots figures attend Celtics games all the time, but it's fair to say Blount approaches his fandom a bit differently than his teammates or coaches.

As Crowder put it, "You see Malcolm Butler come. He just sits on the sideline, don't really say too much. Blount is in the (locker room), cheering, yelling and doing all that stuff."

After one of the Celtics wins during the aforementioned first-round series, Blount talked his way into the back hallway and tried to gain access to the locker room. Without knowing any of the players on the team well, he explained his identity to one of the security guards and asked if he could join the celebration occurring on the other side of the door. The Celtics director of security, Phil Lynch, relayed the request to some of the players, according to Crowder. Essentially, they shrugged their shoulders. If the man punches in touchdowns for another Boston-area team and grows so animated while rooting for the Celtics, sure, let him in.

These days, Blount doesn't always wait for an invitation.

"He's in there like he's on the team," explained Thomas.

"A lot of the times he just comes in," echoed Crowder. "He chest bumps. He do all that high fives, all that crazy stuff. He's a football guy so he's got a lot of energy, especially after a win."

Blount is no stranger to the Celtics now. He probably attends more games than anyone else on the Patriots roster and doesn't exactly keep his mouth shut when he goes.

"He's just talking about, 'We real killas. We killas. We killas out here. This is what we do,'" Thomas said, impersonating Blount. "So those type of guys you need around you. It's good vibes, good energy. We're like the same guy in a different sport."

Though Blount disagrees with the label "superfan" - "I just like basketball in general," he said - he showed up during the preseason when Boston hosted the Brooklyn Nets, and again during the regular season when they met the Miami Heat. There is no game too small for Blount to watch, especially now that he has grown tight with Thomas and Crowder.

After that first meeting, the running back exchanged numbers with the two Celtics players. By Game 4 of that Hawks series, Thomas had given Blount a jersey, pealing off his uniform on the court and handing it to the Patriots back. They became texting buddies quickly, just like Crowder and Blount. Before long, Crowder had extended an invitation for Blount to join his family for dinner. The running back has accepted it more than once.

"You know Jae ain't cook for me," Blount said. "Jae probably can't even cook. It was good, though. ... They're great people, man. It's always a pleasure to hang out with those guys outside the public."

When New England advanced to the Super Bowl, Blount reached out later that night to Crowder -- an Atlanta Falcons fan growing up -- to say the Patriots plan to do what they're supposed to do in the big game.

Though Blount set the Patriots single-season record with 18 rushing touchdowns, he sounds like any other Celtics fan while declaring Thomas should have won a starting spot on the Eastern Conference All-Stars.

"He's one of the best guards in the league, easily," Blount said. "He got snubbed."

As that quote suggests, the three friends show each other plenty of support. Blount texts Crowder and Thomas good luck before every game, and lets them know whenever he plans to visit TD Garden. If the Celtics win in his presence, Blount normally meets Thomas on the court for congratulations. After the guard scored 52 points against the Heat, including an astounding 29 in the fourth quarter, fans sent him into the locker room with a standing ovation, but first needed to wait for a moment while Thomas met with his friend.

One day, Blount plans to pay back Thomas with a jersey. Blount said he actually thought about bringing one Wednesday night when he took in Boston's 120-109 victory over the Houston Rockets.

"But I just felt like that would have just been kind awkward and lame to just be sitting at a basketball game with my jersey on my lap, waiting to give it to him," he said. "So I'll give it to him at a different time."

Thomas and Crowder want one more gift from Blount.

"We let him in our house," Crowder said. "He's got to let us into his house."

The only problem: apparently, the Patriots are not so open to letting outsiders into their abode. In a lot of ways, they have been great to the Celtics. Heck, Tom Brady flew to the Hamptons to pitch Kevin Durant on signing with Boston and answered every question Celtics players asked him about health and longevity. Bill Belichick has talked shop with Brad Stevens and welcomed the Celtics coach to at least one practice. A couple of weeks ago, Brady shipped Thomas a signed jersey, which Thomas later wore to the Patriots playoff opener. He watched warmups from the side of the field, where he dapped up Blount.

The Celtics appreciate all that. But as much as the players hound Blount about accessing the Patriots locker room after a game, they know any decision is, as he says, "Way above my pay grade."

When asked about the possibility, Blount quickly dismissed the topic.

"I ain't gonna keep talking and talk myself into some crazy stuff," he said.

There may have been some humor behind Blount's words, but he clearly wants to avoid irritating the Patriots powers that be. Crowder and Thomas realize they will need to scale hurdles to reach the Patriots locker room one day, but maintain hope.

"It may be a little harder," Crowder admitted. "Belichick's a little tougher than Brad. But we'll make it happen soon."

In the meantime, all the chest bumps and high fives will need to stay confined to TD Garden.