Wade sees IT feeling right at home with Cavs

If anyone is qualified to speak on the long, winding, sometimes-tortuous road IsaiahThomas has traveled in returning to an NBA court and making his debut as a Cleveland Cavalier, it's DwyaneWade.

The 15-year NBA veteran has battled more than his fair share of injuries, some of them serious in nature, so Wade could not hide his admiration for the way Thomas has handled himself leading up to and how he performed in his return Tuesday night against the Portland Trail Blazers.

Thomas scored 17 points and handed out three assists in 19 minutes of playing time in his first game action since reinjuring his right hip in the Eastern Conference Finals against the Cavaliers in May. Thomas put up a 6-of-12 shooting performance, including making 3-of-8 from beyond the 3-point line.

Thomas, Wade (15 points, 8 rebounds, 3 assists), JeffGreen (10 points, 4 boards, 5 dimes, 2 steals), KyleKorver (9 points, 2 rebounds) and TristanThompson (6 points, 8 boards) combined to help the Cavaliers bench to crush their Trail Blazers counterparts, 61-23.

Thomas was sidelined for seventh months... 228 days, to be exact.

"He's feisty, " Wade said. "To have an injury like he had, to get traded... after everything he has been through, you have to be strong.

"To come back from it, to work as hard, to not give up -- you know from his whole story, it's about not giving up."

Wade said Thomas' abilities far and away exceed his physical limitations of being the shortest guy on the floor.

"To be as small as he is and to be as good as he is... some other people told him he couldn't do it, so you know he's a tough-minded guy," Wade said. "To see it up close, to see all the work and everything he's been through, to finally get a chance to let it out tonight, in a small dosage, I think for everybody, we were just happy for him... excited for him."

The nightly sellout crowd at Quicken Loans Arena certainly was, too, as the 20,562 gave Thomas a roaring standing ovation when he entered the game in the first quarter, something Thomas most definitely heard... and felt.

""Cleveland, thank you!!!," he posted on his Twitter account after the game. "Tonight was a very special night for me and y'all made it what it was with the love y'all showed me when I checked in the game. I will always remember tonight. Now let's keep building, this is only the beginning! #ThatSLOWgrind"

Wade, who spent the first 13 seasons of his NBA career with the Miami Heat, returned home to Chicago to play last season before signing with the Cavaliers last summer. He knows all about change, though his changes were his decisions, unlike Thomas' most-recent change of scenery,

He was traded with JaeCrowder, AnteZizic, Brooklyn's unprotected first-round draft pick in 2018 and Miami's second-round pick in 2020 by Boston to the Cavaliers in exchange for KyrieIrving.

"When you're traded like that, obviously, it's something he didn't think was going to happen," Wade said. "But to get traded to the Cavs, to be traded to a good team, to be traded to a team that's in the hunt... and then you get around guys and your start to get to know them and get to know their families and you become friends.

"You become family, in a sense."

Wade, who took some time to adjust to his Cleveland teammates after he chose to join them, believes Thomas is now aware at just how much he is being embraced.

"I think he sees that everybody, everyone here just wants the best for him," he said. "Players, staff, coaches, everyone wants the best for him.

"We've all been waiting for this moment for him and he sees that. That makes him feel at ease.

"It doesn't change what happened, but definitely makes him feel at ease."