Cleveland Cavaliers point guard Isaiah Thomas has played inconsistently since returning from a hip injury that has sidelined him since last season’s playoffs. The Cavs have suffered through a rough stretch since late December, losing eight of their last 11 games. Thomas’ poor showing the past two games has coincided with the team’s lackluster play of late.
ESPN’s Dave McMenamin reports that Thomas was expecting this type of performance from himself, adding a caveat to his stellar first two games.
“I knew it was going to be like this,” the Cavs point guard said. “I have no legs. So it’s going to take some time to get it back, even when I played well those first two games I told Coach (Tyronn) Lue it didn’t feel right. It was kind of fool’s gold.”
Thomas played for the first time this season against the Portland Trail Blazers on Jan. 2. He was spectacular, to say the least, scoring 17 points on 3-for-8 shooting from 3-point range and 50 percent overall from the field. More than that, Thomas galvanized the second unit’s attack as he was instrumental in the lopsided 127-110 win.
He was even better in his second game, with 19 points, four assists, and two rebounds, while shooting 2-for-4 from long distance and 53.8 percent on total field goals.
Since then, Thomas has averaged 6.5 points on 19.2 percent shooting (5-for-26) in his next two games with the Cavs losing both by an average of 31 points.
“The shots were going in, but none of my movements, none of the things I usually do felt normal,” said Thomas. “It’s going to be like that for a while. I’ve just got to be patient. I’m my biggest critic; I’m not a patient person. So it’s killing me that … to be, I’m used to stepping on the court and being special. So now I’ve got to work. I’ve got to work my way back and get my legs back and get my legs back to playing at a high level.”
Thomas better be ready to play his A-game on Monday as he and the Cavs will be facing the defending champion Golden State Warriors.