Celtics fans give Isaiah Thomas a standing ovation in his return to Boston

Cleveland Cavaliers guard Isaiah Thomas never had a hatchet to bury with Boston Celtics fans. There were some questions about how a number of parties would respond to his return to the city, but you always knew the fans would get up and support him.

That’s exactly what they did Wednesday night. Thomas did not play in the contest, as he’s still recovering from a hip injury, so he introduced with the starting lineups.

The cameras found him after the first quarter, however, and Celtics fans went wild when he appeared on the Jumbotron.

He received a somewhat similar reaction from fans sitting near the court when he made his way to the Cavs’ bench during the quarter.

There was no accompanying highlight video of Thomas from the Celtics, but that was by design. The guard reportedly told the team not to play a tribute video since he was not going to participate in the contest. The Celtics plan to run a highlight video of Thomas at a later date.

Thomas’ return to Boston actually came with a lot less drama than anticipated. Prior to Wednesday’s game, Thomas said he squashed his beef with Celtics president Danny Ainge. The two texted with each other Tuesday night and resolved things, according to Cleveland.com.

Thomas made his Cavs debut Tuesday night, scoring 17 points in a 127-110 win over the Portland Trail Blazers. Thomas is not ready to play in back-to-back games just yet, which is why he sat out against Boston on Wednesday.

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Chris Cwik is a writer for Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at christophercwik@yahoo.com or follow him on Twitter! Follow @Chris_Cwik