Avery Bradley, Isaiah Thomas

Boston Celtics' Avery Bradley, top, and Isaiah Thomas hug after a buzzer-beating win last season.

(AP Photo/Tony Dejak)

BOSTON -- Isaiah Thomas could have created a layup attempt for himself. As he turned toward the Boston Celtics hoop, only Dwight Powell stood in his way. The Canadian moves his feet well enough, but Thomas practices witchcraft in the open court, challenging anyone, big or small.

The Boston Celtics All-Star had tap-danced on top of the Dallas Mavericks throughout a magical fourth quarter Wednesday, scoring so many clutch points that play-by-play announcer Mike Gorman -- who has called games involving Larry Bird, Paul Pierce and so many others -- publicly implored fans to pay attention to Thomas' season-opening run. Through 11 games, the guard is one of four players in the NBA averaging at least 27 points and six assists. The others, James Harden, Russell Westbrook and Stephen Curry, read like a list of MVP candidates. Only three times over the last 50 years has a Celtics player scored more points than Thomas (295) over the first 11 games. The legends to have done so -- Bird, Pierce and John Havlicek -- will all be in the Hall of Fame one day, if they are not already.

In all likelihood, Thomas could have minced Powell. Instead, the lefty spotted teammate Avery Bradley streaking down the other side of the court. A between-the-legs pass led Bradley perfectly into a mean dunk that demoralized the Mavericks and drove TD Garden mad with joy. Together, the fans jumped to their feet and howled, head over heels for a backcourt that has developed into one of the NBA's best.

"I wouldn't bet any (backcourt) against us," Thomas recently told MassLive.com. "We're not backing down from nobody. I wouldn't say we're No. 1. I wouldn't say we're behind anybody. We're up there and we're in the conversation. I'd put us up there with anybody in the NBA."

***

While discussing how the Celtics guards have improved, let's start with Bradley, who entered the offseason with a self-imposed mandate to grow as a playmaker. Over the previous several years, he had regularly added bits and pieces to his game - first a midrange jumper, then a 3-point shot and better team defense - but his offensive creativity had never progressed at the same rate. He has always used his fast-twitch muscles to ransack opposing ball-handlers, but wanted to unearth ways to utilize the same advantage with the ball in his hands.

Now, the scouting report on Bradley needs to change.

Just look how stunned Jimmy Butler is when the guard looks for early offense going to the hoop. Bradley's hesitation move here is basic, but it turns Butler into a statue, clearing a path to the hoop.

"I think I was overthinking and making things hard for myself because everything was just one speed," Bradley told MassLive.com. "But I'm so much faster than a lot of people. I just needed to be smarter. I needed to stop wasting time to makes moves. And that came from just working out this summer. Those two-a-days, three-a-days, whatever it was. And I just need to keep it going."

Instead of working on difficult dribbling moves, Bradley tossed aside all the Kyrie Irving tape this summer. Instead, he studied explosive guards like John Wall and Russell Westbrook who change speeds and operate in straight lines. Also cued up on Bradley's computer: tape of Kobe Bryant.

"The reason why I watched him is because he doesn't waste time to get to his move," Bradley said. "He just kind of whipped through and got to his spot. He's not really a ball-handling guy. Not to say he can't, but he just doesn't waste any time getting to his spots."

The early results: Bradley is creating more of his own shots than ever, but still scoring at his most efficient rate in years. At times he has been used as a ball-handler with the second unit, a new role that accentuates all the strides he has taken. During a win against the Charlotte Hornets, he scored 10 points over a three-minute stretch in the fourth quarter, all while taking on point guard duties. This from a guy who never used to look comfortable when forced to initiate the offensive attack.

How comfortable does he look now?

It's subtle, but Bradley proceeds slowly around the screen, probing the defense at his own pace. Where he might have rushed into a mid-range jumper last season, he forces the big man to commit and lobs a most point guard-ish alley oop to Amir Johnson.

Bradley has upgraded his skills and awareness every season, but even considering that standard, the apparent improvements this season are stunning. Though his assist tallies have slowed down a bit recently, he's still averaging a career best 3.4 assists per game -- exactly double his career average. Despite the additional responsibilities, his turnover rate has barely climbed, and his spot-up scoring is better than ever. According to NBA.com, the guard has converted 21 of 37 spot-up opportunities (56.8 percent).

Bradley has also accepted the coaching staff's challenge to shoulder more of the rebounding load for a team that badly needs it. Leading the Celtics with 8.7 rebounds per game, he is more than doubling his career rebound rate -- and, more impressively, is on pace for the best rebounding season ever for players 6-foot-2 or shorter.

"Avery Bradley might be one of the most underrated players in the NBA, two-way players," Nuggets head coach Mike Malone recently said. "The guy was known as a tough, defensive-minded guard, and now the guy is shooting (40 percent) from the 3-point line taking six per game. So kudos to him for the amount of work he's put into his craft."

In the seventh year of his NBA life, Bradley has hopped on the back of a spaceship and rocketed forward as an all-around player. Last week, he said he has a long list of individual goals he hopes to accomplish. He wouldn't reveal them all, but shared a few. He wants to win the Defensive Player of the Year award, make his first All-Star team, and, he said, "Hopefully I can give myself a chance (to win) Most Improved, whatever it is, give myself a chance to be in that conversation because I'm going to work hard and start talking about it.

"Because I'm usually the one that doesn't say anything about it. I just go out there and try to do it. But this year I'm going to talk about it and try to back it up every single game.

"No matter what anybody might think, I know between the players around the league, I have to be one of the top two-way players in defense and offense in the NBA. I know people don't like guarding me or being guarded by me."

***

Unlike some NBA stars, Thomas never takes for granted his status in the game. After meeting with Allen Iverson this summer, he geeked out in his hotel room because of the conversation between them. When Nike ran a big advertisement about him in Boston's South Station, Thomas decided he needed to go see for himself - then, regardless of what security said, he took pictures and videos to capture the real-life "dream."

"M-V-P" chants still don't feel real either, but Thomas received some Wednesday night as he scored 22 points in the fourth quarter, including 16 during a game-swinging four-minute stretch. The most incredible part of the spurt might have been how ordinary it seemed.

This season Thomas has scored at least 23 points in every game, reaching the 30-point barrier four times. According to NBA.com, he's the most efficient isolation scorer in the league, though he uses that play type less frequently than most elite point guards, and in the 83rd percentile as a pick-and-roll ball-handler. Despite weirdly bad catch-and-shoot percentages -- always a strength before this season -- he is on pace for easily the best true shooting percentage of his career, partly because his free throw attempts are way up. During fourth-quarter action, he leads the NBA with 62.1 points per 48 minutes.

"He's got a knack for it," said Celtics head coach Brad Stevens. "I guess I'm so used to being around him and so used to watching him operate that nothing surprises me."

Essentially, Thomas is doing the same things he always did, but better. Even without Jae Crowder and Al Horford for the past two weeks, the Celtics own the eighth-ranked offense. Just about every opposing coach has heaped praise on the team's backcourt.

"Isaiah is the spirit of this team," said Washington Wizards coach Scott Brooks. "He plays with such swagger. He just, he's 5-9, but he plays like he's 6-9 and he plays with such force on the offensive end. He had a great year last year, an All-Star year, and he's having an even better year this year. And then Bradley, the thing I love about him is you want every player you coach to get better every year and you can say that about him. He didn't play much his first year and then a little bit the second year and then he started playing and now he's a bona fide starter in this league for a lot of years and has a chance to be an All-Star the way he plays, because he plays both ends and he plays the right way. He plays hard, he's aggressive, shooting the ball well. He's averaging 19 points a game and he locks up his man. To me he's potentially an All-Star."

For backcourts around the NBA, the Golden State Warriors have established the gold standard, and the Toronto Raptors and Portland Trail Blazers each boast powerful duos. Including more lopsided backcourts, the Houston Rockets and Oklahoma City Thunder rank high because Harden and Westbrook are so devastating.

Where do the Celtics fit in the landscape? Bradley does not know exactly, but notices comments from players around the NBA. He believes opponents will let you know exactly where you stand. Good, bad or ugly, they will tell the truth.

"They go into that game (with Boston), they know it's going to be a tough game. It's going to be two guys that aren't going to back down from nobody," Thomas said. "So they're gonna know they better get their sleep the night before because we're going to bring it to them."

"I want them to say that we're the toughest backcourt from Tacoma, Washington," Bradley said. "I know people aren't going to like guarding us this year."