Klay reminds NBA how great he and the Warriors can truly be originally appeared on NBC Sports Bayarea
SAN FRANCISCO — Klay Thompson walked onto the court for his pregame warmups Saturday night at Chase Center to a chorus of Warriors fans shouting his name before he even took a single shot. This isn’t new. Something felt different, though.
He sat down next to his brother Mychel, shared a laugh and smile and then went to work. Klay was on fire during pregame warmups. After a single missed free throw, he shook his head, walked towards the Warriors’ logo at halfcourt and quickly found his stroke again. Swish, swish, swish.
Klay knew.
“I told [Warriors assistant coach] Kenny Atkinson I feel like I’m gonna have a big night tonight, and it came to fruition, so I’m happy it did,” Thompson said after the Warriors’ 111-107 comeback win over the Utah Jazz.
In the Warriors’ previous game, Thompson had one of his worst performances since completing his two-and-a-half year comeback. He scored just 13 points, went 5-for-21 from the field, made only one of his 10 3-point attempts and committed a late foul that might have been the Warriors’ most costly mistake of the night during a four-point loss to the Phoenix Suns, a game that Golden State should have won.
He reminded himself that it’s only one game, that this season will be full of the highest highs for him and the lowest lows after such a long layoff and to the stay the course. Steve Kerr said before Saturday night’s game that Klay has been forcing shots, which hasn’t been a total surprise knowing how badly Thompson wants to help the Warriors win. As an all-time great and three-time champion, Klay wants nothing more than to return to his All-Star form.
That isn’t going to happen overnight, and he again wasn’t in flow early on. By halftime, Thompson was a minus-17 in plus-minus and was more of a momentum-stopper than one to get the Warriors’ offense going. Whatever he had at halftime, the Warriors need to make sure it’s sprinkled into his water bottle and then some the rest of the regular season and into the playoffs.
Thompson dropped 12 points each in the third and fourth quarter, scoring 24 of his game-high 36 points in the second half. He was a plus-19 in the second half, while going 9-for-16 from the field and 6-for-11 from deep, letting the game come to him and making the crowd cheer louder and louder with each shot he let fly.
“I thought early on, I thought he was a little impatient,” Kerr said. “I didn’t think the game started that well for him. But I thought he got into a groove with a few of his mid-range shots in both halves. And then, we’ve seen it a million times — if Klay just sees the ball go through the hoop a couple of times, he can make the bad ones too.
“I didn’t think this was a dramatic improvement in terms of shot selection. But I think the fact that the mid-range shot was there with [Rudy] Gobert down in a drop allowed Klay to get to the foul line area and pull-up for a few mid-rangers. … Then he started making the impossible ones. But we know he’s capable.”
Klay and the rest of the Warriors took advantage of the 7-foot-1 Jazz center, who is a three-time Defensive Player of the Year, sagging off shooters and giving Golden State open looks. That became even more true as the game went on.
Gobert’s decision to do so certainly was fine by Klay, too.
“Yeah, that’s not very smart,” Thompson said of Gobert’s defense. “I mean, I’m not gonna say I’m not explosive to the rim, but I just need to chop my feet and rise up when I have that much space and I did not let missed shots discourage me tonight.”
“I’m not surprised, but I’m grateful,” he continued, when asked about the drop defense.
This was the fourth time that Klay has scored at least 30 points through his first 30 games this season, and he finished just two points off his season-high. He has shown he still has the ability to score in bunches, and it was a nice self-reminder as well. It also was the perfect boost for a fan base begging for a win.
Saturday night’s win snapped a season-high three-game losing streak at home for the Warriors. Through the first 24 minutes, it looked like this was going to be another game where fans walked up the stands and out the exits as early as possible. Klay and Co. made them do otherwise.
Steph Curry has made Warriors fans rise out of their seats and lose their voices far too many times to count. Jordan Poole, who extended his streak of scoring at least 20 points to 16 straight games by dropping 29, has taken on that role lately with Curry sidelined. On this night, it was Klay’s turn to play hero, earning every chant he received from the home crowd.
“Dub Nation loves Klay, unconditionally,” Gary Payton II said, with a worthy smile and laugh. “I know that gets him going, they get him going, so we just try to feed him and let Klay be Klay.”
From coaches to teammates and all the fans, the love was felt. Thompson and Poole embraced for a big hug after the win, one that each fan wearing a No. 11 Warriors jersey wished they could have given Klay as he walked off the court as well.
They’ve seen him at his best, they’ve seen at his worst. He has watched the fan base grow globally and still is awed by the support when he steps on the floor.
“That was fun, I appreciate our fans so much,” he said. “Even when I come out to warm up for pregame shooting and to get the cheers from the crowd, I don’t take that for granted. We were in Washington, D.C., and I was telling Damion Lee like, ‘Wow, there are so many Warrior fans here. This is incredible.’
“To see how much the fan base has grown, especially since my rookie year, to see people wearing [Steph] Curry jerseys or [Klay] Thompson jerseys, [Draymond] Green, Jordan Poole, [Andrew Wiggins] — it is so cool. It’s something we don’t take for granted.
“It’s really special and I think people just gravitate to our style of play, and it just gets me really excited for the playoffs. I’ve missed them the past two years, and I’m really excited to have a great week and get there.”
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Klay will be back in street clothes Sunday in Sacramento as the Warriors take on the Kings on the second night of a back-to-back. His next game will come after an earned break when the Warriors return to San Francisco for a Thursday night matchup with the Los Angeles Lakers. He always finds a little extra motivation facing the team his father Mychal won two championships with, and he’s sure to give Golden State fans every reason to stay standing in their final home game of the regular season.
As the Warriors inch towards the playoffs, this was Klay’s latest reminder of all the hard work and all the sweat he watched drip down to his shoes, counting down the days until he could show the world what they have been missing out on.
The forever fan-favorite called his shot in more ways than one, and gave us all an eye-opening glimpse of what these Warriors can be when all goes right.
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