Thompson had hot hand for Warriors
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 in San Francisco.
“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 win a win.”
Stephen Curry added 20 points and 12 assists as Splash Brother Thompson got hot to help Golden State make 21 more 3-pointers — giving the Warriors an NBA record for most in the first two games of a playoff series at 42. James’ Cavaliers hit 40 against Atlanta in the 2016 second round.
“They made their adjustments. We knew they were going to do that, that’s what a championship team does,” James said. “They held serve on their home court tonight.”
Thompson’s basket with 7:48 left in the third gave Golden State its biggest lead at 8264 and the Warriors rolled from there.
“Klay got it going and our defense was kind of fueling our offense,” coach Steve Kerr said.
JaMychal Green matched his playoff career high with 15 points, while Draymond Green contributed 11 points, 11 rebounds and nine assists after insisting he had to get more aggressive.
The best-of-seven series shifts to Los Angeles for Game 3 on Saturday.
“It was hard for us to guard four shooters,” Lakers forward
Rui Hachimura said. “Defensively they were more aggressive I feel like.
“They had all the loose balls and the rebounds and everything.”
Klay’s day
Thompson shot 11 for 18 and 8 of 11 from deep in Game 2 for the Warriors. His 19 points in the first half were his most in a postseason contest since he scored 21 in Game 6 against the Rockets in 2019.
Thompson extended an NBA record in the process.
No other player has more than four playoff games with at least eight made 3-pointers. Thompson now has six.
Not surprisingly, the Warriors are 6-0 in those games where Thompson makes that many 3s.
Thompson’s Golden State teammate Stephen Curry has four playoff games with at least eight made threes, as do Damian Lillard and Ray Allen.
Chris Paul, Jamal Murray and Donovan Mitchell each have two such games — and nobody else has more than one.
Coaching carousel
Nick Nurse, 2019 NBA champion with the Toronto Raptors. Frank Vogel, 2020 NBA champion with the Los Angeles Lakers. Mike Budenholzer, 2021 NBA champion with the Milwaukee Bucks.
All now fired by the teams they won those rings with.
Budenholzer was fired by the Bucks on Thursday, after leading his team to the best record in the NBA this season — but still falling to Miami in Round 1 of these playoffs. The only coaches who won a title and are still coaching the team that they won it with are Kerr, Miami’s Erik Spoelstra, and San Antonio’s Gregg Popovich.