YALL MUSTA FORGOT!
In Klay Thompson’s first full season back from the debilitating ACL and Achilles’ injuries, he showed that he is still a big-time player who can affect the outcomes of games with his otherworldly scoring prowess.
Here are three games from this year that proved that Klay is still a dangerous hooper who can light up the scoreboard at any given notice.
Tearing his ACL to tearing his Achilles to winning a chip to leading the league in 3PM
Klay Thompson has joined Steph and Harden as the only players to make 300+ 3PM in a single season.
Watching his journey back from injury has truly been incredible!
Salute to KILLA— Angelo (@_klaynation_) April 9, 2023
Klay fries the Hawks
There’s something special about a hot Klay night when he’s lighting up a defense with a deadly array of daggers and beautiful mid-rangers. The Hawks found that out when Klay hit them up for 54 points, the second highest scoring total of his career, and an emphatic reminder that he was fully back from his injury scares.
His 54 points on 21-of-39 shooting — including 10-of-21 from 3 — in the Warriors’ 143-141 double-overtime win was as close as he has been, he said.
“It’s a huge accomplishment for me,” Thompson said. “There were some hard days for me when I didn’t know that this would be possible in real time. I am just going to embrace the heck out of it.”
His 54 points Monday night were the most since his career-best scoring outing of 60 accomplished in three quarters on Dec. 5, 2016, against the Indiana Pacers. It was Thompson’s fourth career 50-point game and seventh with at least 10 3s.
“When you’re as competitive as he is, when you’re as good as he is, it’s tough sometimes,” Green said. “For two years, everybody is doubting you. That same fire toward that doubt is what made you Klay Thompson … you don’t just lose that. That is embedded in you. It’s good to see him settle down. He’s not chasing it anymore, and it’s falling right in his lap. When you are that good, that’s usually what happens.”
Klay humiliates Phoenix
Klay has been beefing with the division rival Phoenix Suns ever since he got ejected after getting into a tiff with young star Devin Booker earlier this season.
K1@y pic.twitter.com/wk40tJEtuD
— Oh no he didn’t (@ohnohedidnt24) October 26, 2022
That’s why it was pretty sweet to see the younger Splash Bro respond back with a monster game against Phoenix in March, drilling them for 33 points in the first half.
Klay Thompson scored 33 of his 38 points in the first half. Thompson made eight 3-pointers and shot 14 of 23 overall.
“There’s always a little bit of extra motivation when you got smacked a couple times against a certain team but it’s more so about our own focus,” Curry said.
“We knew how big a game it was and Klay knew how big it was and came out and set the tone,” coach Steve Kerr said.
Klay lights up the Lakers in the playoffs
With the defending champs reeling after blowing a Game 1 at home to LeBron’s Los Angeles Lakers, Klay answered the call in Game 2 with a 30-point showing that paced the Dubs in a blowout contest. He nailed 8 triples and made sure the game was never in doubt, adding to his resume as a big-time playoff performer for the Golden Empire.
It was also pretty sweet for him to finally put a whupping to the Lakers, a team his father Mychal Thompson played for.
After yet another big basket, Klay Thompson scurried toward the fans sitting courtside opposite the Warriors bench and raised his arms in the air to ignite an entire arena behind him. It didn’t take much the way his shots were falling.
He has been waiting his entire life to shine against his father’s Los Angeles Lakers on the big stage.
Thompson scored 30 points with eight 3-pointers, Golden State limited Anthony Davis while allowing LeBron James 23 points, and the defending champion Warriors evened their Western Conference semifinal with the Lakers at one game apiece with a 127-100 win Thursday night.
“I was just trying to get the crowd going,” Thompson said. “It’s always fun when you shoot the ball well, it’s even better when you couple that with a win.”