Unstoppable in his zone
back to earth a bit and scored 18 in Wednesday night’s 131-121 victory over New Orleans. Golden State takes a six-game winning streak into Friday night’s game against Minnesota.
Not surprisingly, the crowd at Oracle Arena buzzed when Thompson drained his first (and only) three just 1:19 into the game against the Pelicans. But he also spurred a similar if less obvious murmur in Chicago, when he emphatically busted out of his shooting slump.
“When he gets going, it brings out a different vibe in the whole building,” head coach Steve Kerr said. “It’s hard to describe. But whether it’s at home or on the road, something happens when Klay gets going.”
This traces mainly to the way Thompson finds his shots. Curry and Durant typically have the ball — Curry often dribbles his way into open looks (occasionally from preposterous distances), as does Durant (usually on mid-range jumpers).
Thompson acts as if he’s allergic to dribbling.
So his shooting streaks offer a certain amount of dramatic buildup. See Klay run, see Klay cut, see Klay curl around a screen, catch the ball and immediately let fly.
“You see it happen off this sort of tic-tac-toe offensive action, where it’s three passes and a great screen,” Kerr said. “It’s beautiful basketball. There were so many possessions the other night (in Chicago) that just made me and our coaching staff smile.
“That’s how you want to see a team work together, with simple passing and screening and ball movement.”
Or, as Thompson succinctly put it in explaining the crowd reaction to his big nights, “I think it’s because usually when I’m touching the ball, it’s going up quickly.”
It was no coincidence to see Thompson’s outburst during one of his team’s most dominant games of an utterly dominant era. The Warriors led 92-50 at halftime Monday night, then briefly expanded the advantage to 45 points early in the third quarter.
They’re at their mind-blowing best when Thompson is at his best: racing around the court, furiously searching for open space, rising into the air and draining his smooth-assilk jumper.
They can adapt when he struggles, clearly, as Curry and Durant illustrated with their dynamic show in the season’s first seven games. Thompson astoundingly shot 14 percent (5-for-36) from three-point land in those games, and the Warriors still went 6-1.
But they approach some sort of mystical sporting realm when the Big Two becomes the Big Three. Then the Warriors remember how they changed basketball, shunning isolation plays for an artistic, keepmoving, share-the-ball style.
“Once Klay starts hitting shots, he moves even more,” assistant coach Bruce Fraser said. “And when Klay moves better, the team generates this frenetic pace, even in the halfcourt. It’s collective.”
Fraser noticed Thompson stood around more than usual on the first two games of the team’s recent trip, but he hesitated to say anything to Thompson, because sometimes it’s better to stay quiet when he’s in a slump.
Fraser also knows Thompson, belying his soft-spoken nature, sees everything happening around him.
“He’s very observant, with a stoic face,” Fraser said. “Those are the dangerous ones.”
Thompson seldom offers a window into his thinking. He’s more than content to let Curry and Durant wade in glory and attention.
Take an ever-so-brief interview with Thompson before Wednesday night’s game. He stopped by his locker to put on his shoes before heading to the court to warm up, allowing for a two-minute conversation.
Thompson was cordial, if preoccupied, as he reflected on what it felt like to bury jumper after jumper two nights earlier.
“That’s the best feeling,” he said. “But it’s something that doesn’t come around too often. It’s a great flow, but it’s hard to re-create. Maybe once a year or something.”
Thompson offered an uncommon splash of personality when he arrived at Oracle on Wednesday. This was Halloween, after all, so he dressed as Jackie Moon, actor Will Ferrell’s character in the 2008 parody, “Semi-Pro.”
Thompson nailed it, from the headband to the white No. 33 “Flint Tropics” jersey with orange and aqua trim. He even spun a red, white and blue basketball on his finger as he walked from the parking lot to the arena.
Warriors public-relations chief Raymond Ridder matched this by dressing as Thompson — wearing a gold headband, as Thompson did when he sustained a cut requiring two stitches Monday night, along with Thompson’s No. 11 jersey (over a dress shirt and tie), shorts and a pair of Thompson’s size-15 high tops (Ridder usually wears size 9).
The sight sparked a smirk from the typically expressionless Thompson.
“Oh my gosh,” he said. “Pretty funny.”