The Cleveland Cavaliers will kick off a five-game road trip on Wednesday night with a matchup against the Brad Stevens-led Boston Celtics.
Coach Stevens, one of the more respected coaches in the NBA, had high praise for the Cavs during his media availability on Tuesday morning.
“They’re the team to beat,” coach Stevens said of the Cavs Tuesday morning. “Everybody knows that. They haven’t even had Isaiah (Thomas) yet. We all know how special he is.”
Coach Stevens has a good point when he brings up Thomas. As most hoops fans know, the crafty ball-handler has been recovering from a hip injury he sustained in last season’s Eastern Conference playoffs. However, news came down the wire earlier this week stating that the former Washington Huskies stand-out will make his highly-anticipated debut against the Portland Trail Blazers on Tuesday.
The Cavs have lost four of their last five games, and they could use a little help in the backcourt. They’re being cautious with Thomas’ return, though. Head coach Tyronn Lue has already stated that Thomas will not play in back-to-back sets just yet, which rules him out for Wednesday’s game in Beantown. Coach Lue also noted that Thomas will be on a minutes restriction until further notice.
In his 76 games played for the Celtics last season, Thomas turned in averages of 28.9 points on .463 shooting from the field (both career-highs), 5.9 assists, and 2.7 rebounds in 33.8 minutes per game — all while sinking .909 percent of his free-throws.
The Celtics planned on showing a tribute video for Thomas on Wednesday night, but he has requested that it not be presented. Celtics team officials have obliged and noted that they would still like to honor Thomas in the future.
Wednesday night’s game between the Cavs and Celtics is scheduled to tip at 8:00 p.m. EST. ESPN and Fox Sports Ohio will have live broadcast coverage.