In front of Golden State’s home fans, the Warriors cruised to a 108-90 victory over Detroit on Sunday. Klay Thompson led his team in scoring for the first time since suffering an ACL injury on April 12th as he put up 26 points. The game marked the return of center JaVale McGee who contributed 10 points and nine rebounds before fouling out late in the fourth quarter..
Klay Thompson led the Golden State Warriors to a 108-102 win over the Detroit Pistons on Thursday night. This was his first time leading the team in scoring since he suffered an ACL injury last year. Read more in detail here: what happened to klay thompson.
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ESPN’s Kendra Andrews
SAN FRANCISCO, Calif. — Klay Thompson realized he had to apply the same patience he had developed over the previous 212 years to his re-entry shot. In the Golden State Warriors’ 102-86 triumph against the Detroit Pistons on Tuesday night, it seemed to have paid off for the most part.
When asked whether his performance was his greatest since returning to the court, Thompson answered, “Oh, sure, no doubt.” “On the go, I made various photographs, including some difficult ones. I was so delighted to see the ball go through the hoop.”
Thompson scored 21 points on 6-of-13 shooting, including 3-of-8 from beyond the arc, to lead the Warriors. Thompson’s 30 points in Game 6 of the 2019 NBA Finals — the game in which he tore his ACL — was the first time he led the team in scoring. It was both his highest-scoring and best-field-goal-percentage-wise performance since his comeback (46.2 percent ).
“He’s definitely getting his legs beneath him. His wind and fitness have improved, and he’s looking better and better “Steve Kerr, the Warriors’ coach, said.
Since returning from a 941-day absence, Thompson has shot 35.7 percent from three-point range in five games. Most of his misses have gone short, but the Warriors anticipate those shots to return once his legs get back under him, as Kerr claims.
Thompson and his teammates have never been worried about Thompson’s shooting. It’s what he’s good at. They’ll have to live with the misses until it fully recovers.
“I’m never going to stop shooting the ball, even if I miss 100 shots in a row,” Thompson said. “It’s too important to me, and I work too hard not to.”
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The final shot he took in the first half was his favorite of the night: “A traditional 3rd corner. It’s just a pump fake, a side step, and a knockdown “he said
Thompson has brought another dimension to his offense as a facilitator and rim attacker since his return.
Thompson joked about not producing as many plays for others before this season, saying that “Steve was simply holding me back.”
Thompson didn’t need to be a facilitator before, according to Kerr, since he was playing with Kevin Durant and Stephen Curry. But it’s something that this current lineup could use more of right now.
Thompson sees his increasing attempts to attack the basket as an indication that his body is exactly where it needs to be. He also stated it has helped him get into a rhythm as his long-range shot improves.
Aside from Thompson’s finest individual performance since returning over a week ago, the team feels it was the most cohesive it has ever played as a unit, especially Thompson and Curry’s interplay. Curry scored 18 points on 7-of-10 shooting, including 4-of-7 from beyond the arc, evoking memories of the Splash Brothers’ days at Oracle Arena in Oakland.
“It all occurs so quickly. [Thompson] and [Curry] become really hot very quickly “Andrew Wiggins, a forward for the Golden State Warriors, stated. “Once they do, it’s almost hard to stop them.”
After smashing his left hand on a deflected ball in the third quarter, Curry walked back to the locker room for several minutes. He returned with a bandage wrapped over his left middle finger, the opposite hand from the one that kept him out of Sunday’s game against the Minnesota Timberwolves. Kerr does not feel it is a significant situation.
The Warriors’ performance on Tuesday was the first indication that their patience has paid off so far. But there’s more to come as they wait for Draymond Green to recover from a disk problem in his lower back and Andre Iguodala to return after sitting out against the Pistons for at least two weeks.
But they may be certain that their patience will be rewarded once again.
Thompson stated, “I can’t wait until that day.”
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