After a very erratic start to the season in which he was questioned, Klay Thompson has finally answered. The guard put the bad feelings behind him by putting on his best version against the Rockets, who scored 41 points to lead the Warriors to their first road win of the season. San Francisco prevailed at the Toyota Center 120-127, ending their disaster at home while lacking the creditworthiness one would expect from some defending champions.
Klay made it clear from the get-go that this was going to be a special night for him, scoring 20 points in the first quarter to what has been one hell of a start for him. Though his pace slowed after this, the guard finally reminded how deadly he can be when he’s having an inspired night, matching his best mark since his return from injury in 2019. Most of his points came from 3-pointers, from where he signed a stratospheric 10/13 which also allowed him to sign his best figure since his return, allowing fans to dream that the best Thompson is back.
His performance was by no means badly accompanied, as it would even be questionable if Stephen Curry played an even better game. The point guard didn’t score as much as Klay, but with 33 points and 15 assists he was the generator for pretty much everything the Warriors did on offense during his 37 minutes on the court in another superb night from him. While their appearances on the field gave the team fresh air, their absences were very conspicuous, to the point that their rest periods resulted in a run of -15 for Kerr’s men.
With her 7/14 from the perimeter, Steph made the defense zone Gold State has combined for a total of 17 triples, a number nine teams have yet to achieve so far this season. And the truth is that none of these baskets, as well as none of the 22 points of a good Andrew Wiggins, was superfluous, given that the Californians needed them one by one to defeat what, at least according to the standings, is the Second worst team in the NBA.
The defense doesn’t improve
And it is that defense continues to be the Warriors’ unresolved issue, which has allowed many Rockets men to add with relative ease and keep the Texans in the game. Kevin Porter Jr., with 30 points, was the leader in this regard, but was joined by five other teammates who also finished in double figures. Specifically, it was a special evening for both of them. rookies from Houston, Jabari Smith and Tari Eason, who respectively with 22 and 19 points sign the best marks of their career, underlining good manners while demonstrating that they are facing a team against which it is not too difficult to score.
This made for a much closer matchup than the Splash Brothers’ performance could have imagined, and it wasn’t decided until the dying moments of the fourth quarter. There, Curry and Klay’s outside success finally allowed the guests to walk away with the win, but, while there was obvious good news, they leave Houston feeling not exactly one of shooting rockets (joke intentional).
(Cover photo: Alex Bierens de Haan/Getty Images)
