Klay Thompson Drops 35, Warriors Hold on to Beat Jazz
If you are at all a fan of basketball the names Stephen Curry, Klay Thompson, and Draymond Green are probably brought up in any basketball-related sports conversation you may have. The trio was all drafted by Golden State, Curry in 2009, Thompson in 2011, and Draymond in 2012, and have gone on to win four NBA titles together (2015, 2017, 2018, 2022) among many other accomplishments. Coming off of their 2022 title run the club fell short last season as they went into the playoffs as the sixth seed in the Western Conference playoff standings coming off a regular season record of 44-38 and went on to lose to shooting guard Austin Reaves, small forward LeBron James, power forward Anthony Davis, and the Los Angeles Lakers in six games in the first round.
Fast forward to this season, the Warriors have certainly had a roller coaster ride of a season thus far. Through 53 games played this year, the club is currently sitting tenth in the Western Conference standings with a barely above .500 record of 27-16. While this record is mediocre, it is even worse when you think about how much talent is on their roster. Many of the team's problems started earlier this season when power forward Draymond Green purposely hit Suns center Jusuf Nurkic in the face in the midst of guarding him when the two teams faced off. The day after the incident Green was given an indefinite suspension and ultimately ended up missing 12 games before he was allowed to play again for Golden State in January. While Green’s temper has always been a problem for him and the organization and has led to many technicals in his career, this season may be the most problematic we have seen so far from Green.
With this being the case indefinite suspension was needed for Green as he needs to be aware he is not above the bar of facing consequences no matter how many championships he wins in this league and all he needed was a punishment like this for him to learn that. However, like him or not Green is a competitor day in and day out and a huge part of the Warriors team and thus a huge part of why they have struggled this season. Fortunately, now for the organization, since his return Green has been using his emotions for the betterment of the team helping the Warriors close out many games. The Warriors, 8-2 in their last ten games, are arguably playing their best basketball of the season. Before losing on Valentine’s Day to the Los Angeles Clippers, the team had won five in a row looking incredibly impressive. The Warriors rebounded from their loss to the Clippers to beat the Utah Jazz the day after the love holiday and the win would not have been possible without one of the greatest shooters ever to step foot on a basketball court, shooting guard, and 50% of the splash bros: Klay Thompson.
Thompson, who came off the bench in this game for the first time since 2012, responded to the disappointing news of losing his starting spot by having his best game of the season. He dropped 35 points, knocking down seven triples and becoming the sixth Warriors player ever to score 15,000+ points in their career along the way. This game was a makeup game that was originally scheduled to be played on January 17 but was postponed due to the unfortunate passing of Warriors Assistant Coach Dejan Milojević. Thompson played this one for Milojević and as the ending buzzer sounded, I’m sure he couldn’t be happier. Golden State had 42 assists in this game, which is their most all season and their sixth straight game with 30+ assists. They had no problem passing the ball and while they did struggle in the fourth quarter not scoring a single field goal in the last few minutes of the game, they were able to hold off point guard Colin Sexton, who also had 35 points in the game, from completing what would have been a devastating comeback for the Warriors but an extremely impressive one for Utah.
With this win, Golden State Head Coach Steve Kerr has won 500 regular season games in his career and will need to continue to win more if Golden State wants to see themselves make any sort of run in the playoffs. When asked if he would keep Thompson as the sixth man going forward in the season as a result of it working so well tonight Coach Kerr was quoted saying, “Doesn't mean it's permanent, but as I said I like that [starting] lineup. Klay coming off the bench gives us a lot of firepower. We'll give it a little look and we'll see where it goes from there.” After his performance tonight, Kerr might have just found what will get the fire sparking once again in Thompson and the Warriors team as a whole. While many have said the dynasty days of Golden State are over, it looks like this squad may just have a little bit of fire left in them.
