CLEVELAND _ In the pregame locker room, Isaiah Thomas' timing might have been off. He hustled to get dressed, almost as if his internal clock for routine tasks had been disrupted during the seven months he'd spent rehabbing a right hip injury.
The two-time All-Star point guard was antsy to get going. His new team, the Cavaliers, had played 36 games without him. The centerpiece of the Aug. 22 Kyrie Irving trade with the Boston Celtics, Thomas had lobbied to no avail to play at Sacramento on Dec. 27.
His Cavs' debut came Tuesday, and the big moment wasn't wasted on the 5-foot-9 player with a flair for the big moments.
"Now the fun starts," Thomas said before he took the court.
Thomas' #SlowGrind ended and better times began with his long-awaited return against the Portland Trail Blazers at Quicken Loans Arena. The game was not without its struggles for Thomas and the Cavs. But they rallied from a 10-point second-quarter deficit and ended a three-game losing streak with a 127-110 victory.
Thomas finished with 17 points _ one of his 2s was upgraded to a 3 after he left _ and three assists in 19 minutes. His plus/minus was plus-17 as he shot 6-of-12 from the field, 3 of 8 from 3-point range and 2 for 4 from the free-throw line. He departed with 8:10 remaining to a standing ovation, which included the Cavs' bench, and received a hug from coach Tyronn Lue as he left.
Thomas was one of six Cavs players in double figures. LeBron James turned in 24 points, six rebounds and eight assists, Kevin Love had 19 points and seven rebounds despite missing shootaround with an illness, Jae Crowder added 17 points, Dwyane Wade 15 points, eight rebounds and three assists and Jeff Green 10 points.
Damian Lillard led the Trail Blazers (19-18) with 25 points and six assists and Jusuf Nurkic added 23 points and seven rebounds.
The Cavs (25-12) won their 13th consecutive game at home and their fourth in a row at home against the Blazers. The Cavs improved to 6-0 at home against Western Conference opponents this season.
On Wednesday, the Cavs open a five-city, 11-day road trip against the Eastern Conference-leading Celtics.
Thomas entered at the 4:33 mark in the first quarter to a standing ovation and 28 seconds later passed to former Celtics teammate Crowder for a layup.
Thomas' first field goal was a 14-footer off a James assist with 1:11 to go in the quarter. His most daring play came at the 32.8 second mark when he drove for a layup, somewhat of a prayer heave, and was fouled by Al-Farouq Aminu as he went down behind the basket. Thomas converted the free throw.
Lue called a timeout at 9:32 in the second quarter to get Thomas out. At that point, Thomas had made 3 of 6 field goals, 1 of 4 3-pointers and his only free throw with one assist for a plus/minus of plus-7.
Thomas returned at the 4:52 mark in the second quarter and 15 seconds later fed James for a layup. With 3:18 to go in the quarter, Thomas was whistled for his second technical of the season. (His first came earlier in the season when he watched from the bench.).
At the half, Thomas had scored eight points in 12 minutes with two assists and made 3 of 6 shots.
In the third quarter, Thomas rode the exercise bike in the tunnel leading to the Cavs' locker room until he entered at the 3:13 mark.
Thomas' best play in the second half was a beautiful pass to Wade for a layup with 9:54 remaining that put the Cavs ahead 97-91.
Despite the focus on Thomas, the Cavs' defense continued to struggle. The Trail Blazers scored 56 points in the first half, 10 of those coming on second chances, and shot 49 percent from the field. Four of the Blazers' five starters hit double figures in the half. Seven-foot, 275-pound center Nurkic was virtually unstoppable, at least by a Cavs team that wasn't giving maximum effort on that end.
Two-time All-Star guard Lillard returned for the Trail Blazers after missing five games with a strained right hamstring he injured Dec. 20 against the San Antonio Spurs. Because Lillard is not allowed to play in back-to-backs for now, the Trail Blazers held him out of an overtime victory at Chicago on Monday night.
