Earlier this week, Isaiah Thomas made his debut for the Cleveland Cavaliers after sitting out the first chunk of the season as he recovered from a hip injury. During his first two games back, Thomas is averaging 18.0 points and 3.5 assists per game on 52.0% shooting from the field and 41.7% shooting from 3-point range. The Cavaliers are 2-0 in these games, defeating the Portland Trail Blazers 127-110 and the Orlando Magic 131-127.
The biggest weak spot for this Cavaliers team has been at the point guard position. Derrick Rose (ankle) has missed an extended period of time as has Iman Shumpert (knee). With both of those guys out and Isaiah Thomas still waiting to get healthy, LeBron James, Jose Calderon, and even Dwyane Wade have had to run the point guard position. With Thomas now back, James and Wade can go back to their more natural positions while Calderon can move into much much more of a backup point guard type of role. Thomas is the best point guard on this team and is the only guy truly capable of filling in for Kyrie Irving.
Isaiah Thomas does more than just run the point guard position. He knows how to shoot and put up points. With him back, the Cavaliers have a much more potent offensive attack than before. In order to compete with the Golden State Warriors, the Cavaliers need all the offensive weapons that they can get and outside of LeBron James, Thomas might be the best pure scoring option that they have. As good as Kevin Love, J.R. Smith, and Dwyane Wade are, those guys aren't good enough of a supporting cast around James to get past the Warriors in a seven game series. When you add Isaiah Thomas to the mix, I don't think that makes the Cavaliers favorites to take out the Warriors or anything, but it definitely makes them a lot more of a threat.
The addition of Isaiah Thomas cannot fully be quantified by statistics or analytics. Thomas brings a lot of intangibles to this team such as leadership, toughness, and determination. If you are going to win an NBA championship, you need guys who can play through adversity and step up in crunch time. Isaiah Thomas is one of the very best crunch time players in the NBA, leading the league in 4th quarter points last season. With him in the rotation, the Cavaliers have one more guy who they can go to in clutch situations, taking some of the pressure off of LeBron James.
If you are wondering how big of an addition Isaiah Thomas is to this Cavaliers team, I hope this article helped answer your questions. Thomas is a major addition to this team for his point guard play, scoring, and ability to step up in the clutch. I don't think the Cavaliers can win a title without him, but with him at full strength, they absolutely have what it takes to go wire to wire with the Warriors in a seven game series.
To connect with NBA Lord on Twitter, click here.
To connect with NBA Lord on Facebook, click here.
To connect with NBA Lord on Google Plus, click here.
No comments:
Post a Comment