BOSTON

Isaiah Thomas bumped into Paul Pierce tooling around Boston on Saturday night and then stole the spotlight from the former Celtics captain on Sunday.

With the crowd uncertain whether to cheer loudest for the Celtics or for Pierce — or for the Patriots in the Super Bowl — Thomas scored 28 points to lead Boston to its seventh straight victory, a 107-102 win over the Los Angeles Clippers in Pierce’s final game in the Garden.

Thomas backed off Pierce in the final seconds, with the game out of reach, to let the 2008 NBA Finals MVP sink one more basket on the parquet floor he called home for 15 seasons.

“I wanted him to shoot and make it,” Thomas said. “That would have been the perfect way to go out. He did it the right way.”

Playing his last game in Boston, and making his first appearance for the Clippers since New Year’s Eve, Pierce started and played the first five minutes before heading to the bench. Although the crowd chanted his name in the final minutes — egged on by the Celtics cheerleaders and even Thomas himself — Pierce didn’t get back off the bench until there were 19 seconds left.

With the fans already standing, he sank a 3-pointer for his only points of the game.

“I’m glad I was able to cap it off,” Pierce said. “At least I can say I put one last bucket in.”

Al Horford had 13 points and a season-high 15 rebounds for the Celtics.

Next — The Celtics visit Sacramento on Wednesday, the start of a four-game road trip.