Excited to see Isaiah Thomas play against the Celtics on Wednesday? Sweet, because probably he’s not going to.
As first reported by Joe Vardon of Cleveland.com and reiterated by that stupid lede, it seems increasingly likely that Thomas will not be in uniform when the Cavaliers visit Boston next week. He could be back from his hip injury by then, but the fact that the Cavs play on Tuesday makes it unlikely he’d play in back-to-back games.
Assuming Thomas is indeed held out against the Jazz on Saturday [(Cavaliers coach Tyronn) Lue said he wanted to see how Thomas came through the scrimmage], the Cavs' next game is Jan. 2 at home against Portland.
It's virtually out of the question for a player to play in back-to-back games after being out since May with hip injuries. So, if Thomas were to play against the Blazers, it would be hard to believe he'd also play against the Celtics the next night, even though that's the team which traded him to Cleveland in the offseason.
Also, there was reluctance from both the Cavs and Thomas for his first game to be a marquee opponent like the Warriors, which was among the reasons he sat out the Christmas game. The Celtics, with Kyrie Irving as the point guard, certainly count as a marquee opponent.
Thomas, of course, was traded to the Cavaliers in the Kyrie Irving deal over the summer after posting back-to-back All-Star campaigns for Boston. He promises he’s not obsessed with the trade.