Isaiah Thomas and his season with the Cavaliers was less than ideal as the All-Star dealt with the difficulty of recovering from injury and a contemptuous locker room. Thomas’ time with the Cavs ended at the trade deadline when the front office traded the former Celtic to the Lakers after he appeared in only 15 contests for Cleveland.
The two teams met in Los Angeles on Sunday night with the Lakers successfully defending homecourt against LeBron James and the Cavs. According to teammate Kyle Kuzma, Thomas that night, who scored 20 points and dished out nine assists, let the Cavs bench know how he felt quite frequently.
Following from Lakers Twitter,
“[Isaiah] was barking at Cleveland’s bench every time he scored. He was only there for 15 games, but it was good to see him try to kill them. We have a saying: ‘Your last team, they didn’t want you.’ He took it to them and did a great job.”
The 29-year old guard spent much his time with Cleveland defending his level of play during the Cavs extended slump. Thomas averaged 14.7 points, 4.5 assists, and shot 36 percent from the field per game for Cleveland this season.
After general manager Koby Altman completed the trade that landed Thomas in Los Angeles, Thomas admitted to ESPN that he was surprised, claiming the team was in “panic mode.”
“I didn’t think they would pull the trigger that fast, 15 games, Thomas said.” “But again, it’s a business. And the Cavs were, I mean, they were in panic mode. We were losing — a lot. And I think they felt like they needed to make a move, and they, they basically cleared house.”
The Cavaliers are 6-6 since their blockbuster trade deadline and have the look of a team still attempting to acclimate to one another. The Lakers, who are playing great basketball as of late, were able to capitalize on that and beat the Cavs 127-113.
