Thomas drops 20, goes 6-7 from deep as Lakers advance to Vegas finals

The Ice Man was hot again on Sunday for the Los Angeles Lakers.

Former Cyclone Matt Thomas scored 20 points, including 6-of-7 shooting from behind the 3-point line, as the Lakers advanced to the Las Vegas NBA Summer League finals with a 108-98 win over the Dallas Mavericks.

Los Angeles will take on Portland, who beat Memphis 87-82 earlier in the evening, at 9 p.m. central time on Monday.

Thomas went 7-of-10 from the field in the Lakers’ semifinal win plus grabbed three rebounds and dished out an assist. Los Angeles held a 20-point lead with 9:45 left in the game after a Thomas three, but Dallas stormed back to within two points with less than two minutes to play.

Seconds after Dennis Smith Jr. pulled the Mavs within one possession, Thomas slammed the door on the rally when he knocked down his sixth 3-pointer of the night to push the Lakers’ lead back to five despite rookie sensation Lonzo Ball leaving the game during the second half with a calf injury.

Thomas is averaging 7.7 points and shooting 55.6 percent from the field during Los Angeles’ seven games in Las Vegas. His production has increased significantly during the team’s last two games as he’s scored 18.5 points per game and is 9-of-11 from behind the arc.