Thumbs up for Klay Thompson.
Benefit ting from time off during thumb injury, guard has been unstoppable vs. Spurs
OAKLAND >> Klay Thompson suffered a fractured right thumb in March. It might have been a lucky break. Thompson is shooting the lights out as the Warriors head to San Antonio with a 2-0 lead in their first-round playoff series. And coach Steve Kerr credited Thompson’s bum thumb for providing an unexpected payoff.
“The injury may have helped him a little bit,” Kerr said after Thompson’s 31-point barrage Monday night. “He finally got some time off.
“Klay has to defend the opponent’s best guard night in, night out. He never misses a game. … So I think, in hindsight, it probably wasn’t the worst thing for him to get a few weeks off because he looks really, really fresh and sharp right now.”
As he heads into Game 3 on Thursday at AT&T Center in San Antonio, Thompson keeps springing loose off screens or simply running himself open.
“He anchors our offense a lot of the time just with his movement,” Warriors guard Shaun Livingston said.
Give him an inch and he’ll shoot from a mile. Through two games, Thomp-
son is 23 for 33 (.697) from the field, including 10 of 14 (.714) on 3-point shots. Even by Splash Brother standards, that’s no drop in the bucket. And in the San Antonio locker room, some heads are shaking.
“Very, very difficult. … He doesn’t need any airspace to get the shot up,” said Pau Gasol, the Spurs center. “He hits it on the move and releases it from really high, so it’s very hard to contest. When he hits those shots consistent like he has been the last two games, it’s tough, right?”
Spurs big man LaMarcus Aldridge put it this way: “He’s a tough cover. He’s a big-time shooter.”
Thompson, 28, played in 73 games during the regular season, his fewest since the 66 he played as a rookie. He missed nine games this year because of the thumb injury, watching from the sidelines from March 14-29.
The Warriors went 3-5 in his absence, but now he’s providing a reminder of his value. With teamhigh 75 minutes in this series, he’s averaging 29.0 points and has a plus/minus of +19.0.
“When he shoots the ball, I’m confident that he’ll knock it down,” Warriors forward Kevin Durant said. “I kind of expect it now. I have high expectations for Klay.”
A reporter asked Thompson about Kerr’s theory that time off from the thumb injury was paying dividends.
“I think so,” Thompson said, in a typically low-key response. “I mean, any time you can take a few games off … We try to play till June every season, so I think it will help out in the long run, for sure.”
Strange as it sounds now, Thompson had a quiet start to Game 2. He had seven points at halftime, when he was 1 of 2 from 3-point range. But with the Spurs hanging around, Thompson let it fly en route to a 16-point fourth quarter and the Warriors pulled away.
“It’s hard to have a smooth game every game, especially against the Spurs because they played so hard in that first half,” Thompson said “They made it tough on us. They were so physical and knocking us off our cuts, fighting over every screen, forced turnovers. Some of it was on us, but give them credit.”
Making it tough on the Spurs is that Thompson is hitting from everywhere on the court. ESPN’s shot chart from Game 2 showed him making six shots to the right of the key, five to the left of the key and one at the rim. The biggest danger zone: He’s 5 for 5 on 3s from the left wing in the series.
Thompson is also unleashing that maddeningly quick release that makes it frustrating for defenders. Even when contested, even when knocked off balance, Thompson looks as if he’s shooting in an empty gym.
“I thought our guys competed and battled with him, and he hit some tough shots off one leg,” Aldridge said. “That’s why they are who they are. They made some tough shots.”
Game 2 marked Thompson’s 10th career playoff game with at least 30 points (out of 82 career playoff games). He’s scored at least 20 points on 38 occasions.
Now, the series heads to San Antonio. And with his thumb healed, the Warriors are happy to hitch a ride with the hottest player in the series.
“He’s not always going to make a shot,” Kerr said, “but he’s always going to make a huge impact.”