3 takeaways from Isaiah Thomas' impressive Cavaliers debut

It took 228 days, and a great deal of patience and commitment to rehabbing his injured hip, but on Jan. 2 at Quicken Loans Arena, Isaiah Thomas was back playing basketball in the NBA.

The All-Star point guard made his debut with the Cleveland Cavaliers against the Portland Trail Blazers in a 127-110 victory, coming off the bench for the first time since Nov. 1, 2015, with the Boston Celtics.

Here are three takeaways from Thomas' inaugural outing in red and gold:

Laying it on the line

There's a certain mental hurdle that comes with making a return after such a prolonged absence due to injury. Even Cavaliers head coach Tyronn Lue alluded to the fact that Thomas would probably need to be knocked around a bit to get over any anxieties he may have.

It was evident early on, though, that the 28-year-old wasn't going to shy away from contact. On this possession during the final moments of the opening quarter, Thomas drove to the basket with Shabazz Napier draped all over him, finishing with a layup while falling to the hardwood for the and-1.

Minutes earlier, Thomas cut through Blazers defenders Damian Lillard and Al-Farouq Aminu to draw the foul after taking a hard spill.

If there were any lingering doubts over whether Thomas was actually 100 percent, they can be put to rest now. However, he'll still be kept out of the lineup Wednesday against the Celtics for precautionary reasons on the second night of a back-to-back slate.

But so far, so good.

Forever aggressive

“My hip is better but I have no rhythm ... It feels like I lost my powers ... but once I get out there it’s going to be too hard to hold me back," said Thomas during Monday's practice, according to ESPN's Dave McMenamin.

Now, while he only suited up for 19 minutes, Thomas definitely made every single one of them count.

He attempted the second-most shots on the team (12), eight of which came from 3-point range, to finish with 17 points and three assists on 50 percent shooting, with a plus-minus of +17.

This is a player who finished third in the Association a season ago in points per game (28.9), seventh in field-goal attempts (19.4), and fifth in usage rate (34). Thomas grew accustomed to being a focal point on offense while in Beantown, and even though he's surrounded by a number of stars in Cleveland, he's still going to look for his whenever he can.

The LeBron factor

One of the main goals in Cleveland has to be to find a way to reduce James' playing time (currently third in the NBA in minutes) during the regular season to preserve his body for a long and hopefully prosperous playoff run.

Thomas' presence is a true difference-maker, which was never more apparent than in the fourth quarter with James on the bench. Thomas dropped five points and a dime in four minutes to spur on a 7-0 stretch that put the game out of reach for the Blazers.

When James and Thomas played together for close to 10 minutes, though, their lineups possessed a net rating of 9.2, but a plus-minus of just -1. Leading the second unit of Dwyane Wade, Kyle Korver, Jeff Green, and Tristan Thompson is when Thomas' production truly soared, which wasn't necessarily the case with the regular starters.

The eye test did show the two are capable of co-existing as running mates, though, even with such a small sample size. They'll be more than fine.