Isaiah Thomas’ tenure with the Los Angeles Lakers so far has had its ups and downs. On Sunday night, facing off against the team that traded him, Thomas turned in one of his best performances with L.A., helping lead the team to a 127-113 victory over the Cleveland Cavaliers.
Thomas finished with 20 points and nine assists in the contest, sparking a run early in the fourth quarter that essentially put the game out of reach. After the win, Thomas, in trademark fashion, said he expected to play that well.
“Given the opportunity, I can play like that every game. It’s no surprise,” he said. “I have done that before. I was just out there making plays, my teammates were getting me open. Coach was putting me in positions to be successful and I just took advantage of it.”
One of the biggest stories heading into the matchup was Thomas squaring off against the Cavaliers for the first time since the trade. But Thomas insisted there was no extra motivation. “Not at all. Just another game. Just trying to win the game,” he said.
Thomas pointed to his short time in Cleveland as reason this game was nothing special. “I only played 15 games for them, so it’s really not about showing them what I can do. The world knows what I can do and what I bring to the table,” Thomas explained. “I took it as another game and I just wanted to win. We did a helluva job as a team beating that really good team over there.”
The Lakers undoubtedly got a huge win and Thomas, along with Julius Randle were the catalysts in a major way. Now Thomas just wants to move on to the next game, away from anything related to the Cavs.
“It wasn’t like it was a revenge game. Those guys are great guys,” he said. “They just made a business decision, and I’m trying to move on.”
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