Thomas says no rift between him, Love

Cavaliers guard Isaiah Thomas denied a rift with Kevin Love, insisting there is no “bad blood” between the teammates.

Following days of drama with the never-a-dull-moment Cavs, Thomas spoke Jan. 27 to reporters for the first time since the struggling team — Cleveland is 4-7 in January — held a heated meeting that came after Love went home during a lopsided loss to Oklahoma City on Jan. 20 because the All-Star was sick and then missed practice the following day.

At a Jan. 22 pre-practice meeting, Thomas was among the players who challenged Love’s absences.

But Thomas said any belief that he specifically targeted Love is inaccurate.

“I didn’t call him out,” said Thomas, who has struggled in his return from a hip injury. “I asked him why wasn’t he at the game, supporting his teammates. And then after the game, I didn’t ask him because he wasn’t there. So I was seeing where he was. So I didn’t call him out any. So those reports that whoever is saying that, there’s no bad blood between me and him.

“We go back to fifth and sixth grade. I asked him a question where he was and it was never clarified. And that’s all it was.”

Thomas also dismissed a play in the Jan. 26 game when Love grabbed a rebound and bent over at the waist to hand the ball to the 5-foot-9 point guard like an adult reaching out to a child.

“There’s nothing between me and Kevin Love — at all,” he said. “I approached him about his situation and it went out of house like it shouldn’t have been, but it was not nothing bigger than what the world was trying to make it, like some type of beef between me and him. It’s never been that and I’ve never been that guy to do that. So, to clear all that false whatever. Whatever everybody is writing up. That’s not cool at all.”

While Thomas played on some high-profile Celtics teams, he’s never experienced the kind of spotlight that trails the Cavs.

“That meeting or whatever we had was blown out of proportion of what it was,” Thomas said. “But being on this team, you see anything that happens, it’s a little blown up and it’s a little more than what it really is. That’s just, I guess being on a team with LeBron James, that’s what happens. Every day is a new day and I think for the most part, we’ve been as positive as we can be with all the extra noise from the outside.”

Thomas heard some boos at home in the Jan. 26 win over Indiana. He scored 12 points on 5 of 13 shooting and five turnovers in 29 minutes. Thomas is still trying to get his rhythm after missing seven months.

TONY DEJAK — THE ASSOCIATED PRESS Isaiah Thomas drives past the Pacers’ Darren Collison during the first half on Jan. 26 at Quicken Loans Arena.