On Saturday, the Los Angeles Lakers will be facing the Dallas Mavericks. Newly acquired Isaiah Thomas is expected to make his debut and come off the bench.
The Los Angeles Lakers will be attempting to keep their winning streak alive when they face the Dallas Mavericks on Saturday night.
Over the last month, the Lakers have been one of the top teams in the NBA record-wise. However, they made a big trade before the NBA trade deadline, which sent Jordan Clarkson and Larry Nance Jr. to the Cleveland Cavaliers.
By doing so, the Lakers were able to create enough cap space to pursue two max free agents this coming offseason. Also, the Cavaliers sent their first-round pick to the Lakers. As far as the players the Lakers received in return, they got Isaiah Thomas and Channing Frye back in the deal.
In their last game against the Oklahoma City Thunder, the Lakers were able to win with ease, as both Carmelo Anthony and Russell Westbrook sat out with ankle injuries. Now, the Lakers will try to continue their winning ways as they mix in Thomas and Frye into the rotation.
Luke Walton said he’ll keep the starting line up as is: Ingram, Hart, KCP, Randle and Lopez. Isaiah Thomas will come off the bench. Lonzo is out tonight but continues to progress and will start at PG when he returns.
— Mike Trudell (@LakersReporter) February 10, 2018
As an MVP candidate last season, Thomas struggled with the Cavaliers coming off hip surgery. In 15 games this season, Thomas’ numbers are way down from what we saw by him with the Celtics. So far this season, Thomas is shooting just 36.1 percent from the field and 25.3 from three-point range.
Coming off the surgery, Thomas is clearly not all the way back to where he was. However, he will likely be playing a large role with the Lakers. While Thomas is expected to come off the bench, there will be plenty of minutes for him filling in the same role that Jordan Clarkson played.
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Thomas can easily play around 30 minutes per game with Ball out, as that is right around where Clarkson was. Since he was traded from the Cavaliers, Thomas will certainly be motivated to play well for the Lakers in a contract year.