Golden State Warriors five-time All-Star Klay Thompson had a strong response to his demotion by playing his best game of the season.
The 34-year-old Thompson fired a season-high 35 points with 6 rebounds and 2 assists without a single turnover in 29 minutes off the bench.
“I only found out this [February 15] morning. Me and Steve [Kerr had a good talk about it. You can do two things: You can pout or you can go out there and respond,” Thompson told reporters after the game. “I thought I did the latter very well tonight.”
Klay Thompson Joins Warriors’ 15,000-Point Club
Thompson knocked down 7 of 13 3-pointers and had a solid 13 of 22 shooting overall as he became the sixth Golden State player to surpass 15,000 points. He joined Wilt Chamberlain, Rick Barry, Paul Arizin, Chris Mullin and his teammate, Stephen Curry.
“To be in that 15,000-point club is a huge honor,” Thompson said. “I mean I’m in there with Hall of Famers and that’s just humbling for myself to be on the same list and it’s really a dream come true.”
But what he didn’t dream of was to come off the bench — a decision that coach Kerr said Thompson wasn’t thrilled about it.
But after much thought leading to the game, Thompson had come to accept it.
“I embraced it before tip-off,” Thompson said. “I deserved it really. I didn’t respond to not playing at the end of the game well last [February 14] night. I kind of took it out on the assistant coaches and I apologize to those guys before the game. And I think that really let my guard down, let me just be myself out there.”
Thompson was referring to his ill-advised foul that cost the Warriors a chance to send the game against the Los Angeles Clippers into overtime. His mental lapse led to a 130-125 heartbreaker on Valentine’s Day.
These Warriors reactions to Klay’s late-game foul 😬
Klay Thompson Doesn’t Care What Other People Say
Thompson subbed in with seven minutes remaining in the first quarter. It took him a little while before he adjusted to his new role. But once he did it, he started to realize Kerr’s vision for him and the team.
Thompson supplied the firepower off the bench by rattling off 10 points inside the final three minutes of the opening quarter as the Warriors cut a nine-point deficit to three. He added seven points he scored in bunches in the final four minutes of the second quarter to help the Warriors build an 84-71 lead.
Then came his best quarter of the season.
Thompson went full vintage Splash Brother, scoring 18 points in the third quarter as the Warriors lead ballooned to 19.
Klay Thompson came off the bench and made a big-time impact tonight 🔥
35 PTS | 6 REB | 7 3PM
He let himself lose in the moment and fully embraced his new role.
“The moment you worry about what people say or what headlines will be written about being benched or the streak being broken is when you go out there and you don’t play with that love, that compassion for your teammates and that freedom that has got me to this point,” Thompson said. “So I realized that I didn’t want to go to the All-Star break on a sour note and have my best game in the season. Hopefully, I will build off it.”
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Warriors Star Klay Thompson Sends Strong Response After Demotion