Isaiah Thomas could be facing a suspension soon. Playing for the Cleveland Cavaliers against the Minnesota Timberwolves on Monday night (Jan. 8), Thomas committed a hard foul against Andrew Wiggins. It was ruled as a flagrant 2 foul and Thomas was ejected from the game. Wiggins was able to return to the floor, though, finishing out the one-sided game for the Timberwolves.
Just how bad was the Thomas foul on Wiggins?
As shown in the image above, Andrew Wiggins was hit in the throat area by a forearm from Isaiah Thomas. Wiggins was driving to the basket when Thomas swiped at him (hard) and sent him to the floor. There is now a lot of debate on social media about whether this was an intentional foul or whether Thomas was just going for the ball. Either way, he was immediately ejected from the game.
The analysts on the NBA Network were split with their opinions on what had just taken place. Hall of Fame point guard Isiah Thomas said that it was just part of the game and unintentional, while the other two panelists were unsure.
They felt that this was something that would lead to retribution when the Wolves visit the Cavs later in the season. The elder Thomas stated that he felt the two players would move on from the foul.
What will the league do about this foul?
The NBA is now going to get a chance to review this play and decide if it was nefarious. If the league deems that the flagrant foul was intentional, it could lead to a one-game suspension for Isaiah Thomas. The league could also take the less-likely route of downgrading the foul call, but no NBA analysts feel that this is going to take place. Either way, it gives the talking heads a lot to talk about during the sports shows on Tuesday morning (Jan. 9).
Wolves dominate the Cavs
Lost in this mess-of-a-foul was how dominating the Minnesota Timberwolves were on Monday night against the Cleveland Cavaliers. Will LeBron James call out his Cavs teammates again? Maybe he will brush it aside and pick someone else to troll with postgame comments? It’s just one of 82 regular season games, but the Cavs are going to need to bounce back in a big way this week to overcome this result.
The next game for the Cavs comes on Thursday night (Jan. 11) when the team is on the road against the Toronto Raptors. They play the Indiana Pacers on Friday (Jan. 12) and then have a game against the Golden State Warriors the following Monday (Jan. 15). February 7 will mark the re-match against these very same Minnesota Timberwolves, but the game will be played in Cleveland.