Onalaska’s Matt Thomas scores career high, doesn’t miss a 3, as Lakers win Summer League title

Rookie SG scored 50 points in last 3 games, going 14 of 16 from deep

LAS VEGAS — Matt Thomas probably wishes the NBA’s Summer League would never end. In the championship, the Onalaska, Wis., native was 5-for-5 from beyond the arc in helping the L.A. Lakers beat Portland 110-98.

HIGHLIGHTS: Matt Thomas follows his strong semifinals performance by going 5-5 from deep with 23 total points in tonight’s win #LakersSummer pic.twitter.com/3hIWJs7QWQ

— Los Angeles Lakers (@Lakers) July 18, 2017

Thomas scored an NBA Summer League career-high 23 points in 34 minutes, going 8-for-9 from the field.

In his last three games, Thomas has scored 50 points, going an astounding 14-for-16 from beyond the arc. That’s not a misprint. 

In the Summer League quarterfinals, Thomas scored 17, going 3-for-4 from deep.

Sunday night, in the semifinals, he was 6-for-7 and scored 20 points.

And then there was Monday night’s performance. And Thomas, who had 12 points by halftime, may have come away with some hardware if it weren’t for the entire team being on fire. 

The Lakers were 14-for-24 from beyond the arc and shot 60.1 percent from the field. See them all right here.

With Lonzo Ball out, Kyle Kuzman stole the show, winning the championship MVP with 30 points on 11-of-16 shooting. He was also 6-for-10 from beyond the arc and added 10 rebounds.

Though, if you really want to analyze stats, Thomas’ plus/minus (+/-) was +20 — the highest on the team. The next highest was +11. Kuzman was +9.

Thomas graduated from Onalaska High School in 2013.

He helped the Hilltoppers win a state title his junior year, scoring 30 points on 9-of-18 shooting. He was 4-for-7 from deep in that 55-38 win over Kaukauna back in March of 2012.

Thomas went on to start all four seasons at Iowa State University, where he had an impressive career (see below).

In his final home game for the Cyclones, Thomas tied a career high with 25 points. He also tied a career high with seven 3-pointers (going 7-for-11). And, for good measure, he tied a career high with five assists in that finale.

Upon graduating, Thomas did not get selected in the NBA draft. It was rumored he was going to sign a two-way contract with the Toronto Raptors but, instead, he opted to play with the Lakers.

He will now likely play for the South Bay Lakers. The team was just renamed from the D-Fenders for this upcoming season.

South Bay will play its games at the UCLA Health Training Center in El Segundo, Calif., home of the NBA’s Lakers practice facility.

MATT THOMAS IOWA STATE HIGHLIGHTS
CAREER
-Third-most 3-pointers in school history (254)
-Second-longest streak for 3-pointer in consecutive games (30)
-Second in career wins (98) -Sixth-best career 3-pointer shooter (40.1%)
-Fifth-most 3-pointers made as senior (89)
-Ninth-best free-throw percentage in ISU history (81.5)

SINGLE SEASON 
-Shot 44.5 percent behind the arc senior year, which was the eighth-best in school history