After months of rehabbing his hip and waiting for clearance to make his highly-anticitpated debut with the Cleveland Cavaliers, Isaiah Thomas is now on the verge of returning. Thomas has been participating in drills for over a month now and tomorrow’s matchup against the Portland Trail Blazers will officialy be his first outing in a Cavs uniform according to Boston Globe’s Gary Washburn:
Isaiah Thomas will make his long-awaited return to the court tomorrow against the #Blazers. He will NOT play in Boston. #Cavaliers #Celtics
— gary washburn (@GwashburnGlobe) January 1, 2018
As Washburn pointed out, Thomas will miss the second part of the back-to-back the day after when they take on his former club the Boston Celtics.
Thomas gave himself a self-diagnosis on his hip and is excited to finally be back out there, as he continues his long journey back towards 100%. Following from ESPN’s Dave McMenamin:
Isaiah Thomas: “My hip is better but I have no rhythm … It feels like I lost my powers … but once I get out there it’s going to be too hard to hold me back”
— Dave McMenamin (@mcten) January 1, 2018
Thomas’ looming return tomorrow falls perfectly in line with his previous targeted return date for the first week of January. Thomas will also be on a minutes restriction, as expected until he returns back to full form.
Obviously, this is a huge upgrade at the point guard position for the Cavs who have been making do with Jose Calderon. Adding a scorer as dynamic as Thomas alongside LeBron James will bring this Cleveland offense a major boost as we approach the midway point of the NBA season.
