Warriors rode 'the best version of Klay' to must-win playoff victory
SAN FRANCISCO -- When Klay Thompson gets hot, forget it.
Golden State evened up its Western Conference semifinal series with the Los Angeles Lakers at a game apiece on Thursday night, rolling to a 127-100 victory in Game 2.
In the process, 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, after going 8-for-11 from 3-point land in Thursday night's win. Not surprisingly, the Warriors are 6-0 in those games where Thompson makes that many 3's.
"Well, that's the best version of Klay, when he's really going offensively, but he's taking great shots," Warriors coach Steve Kerr said. "That's what I liked about tonight. I just thought we got really good shots. 21-for-42 from three. Obviously a great percentage, but I think the percentage was a reflection of the clean looks we were getting; the fact that the guys weren't forcing anything. The ball was moving. They were just moving it to the open guy. And Klay obviously can get really hot, really fast, and it's more likely to happen when we are moving the ball like we did tonight."
Thompson's Golden State teammate Steph Curry has four playoff games with at least eight made 3's, 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.
Kerr said once Thompson sees the ball go into the basket, his quick-release jumper becomes very dangerous.
"Klay can always get going. It doesn't matter how many wing defenders the opponent has. Klay is always capable of getting loose," he said. "I think the key, again, we had 38 assists. So the key for us tonight was getting the movement, getting the flow and just continuing to hit singles and not try to force anything. So when we do that, Klay tends to get really clean looks, and that's what happened tonight."
Warriors star Draymond Green said once Thompson starts rolling, the goal is to get him clean looks.
"When he's getting great looks like that, we know he's one of best shooters to ever play this game," Green said. "So it's on us to make sure we are finding him and screening for him and making sure he's getting open looks, and I think we did a better job of that tonight."
Thompson said moments like Thursday night make the thousands of hours in the gym worth it.
"These are moments you work for," he told reporters. "You might not see them all the time when you're in the gym, when you're conditioning, running a thousand miles. But those short moments of euphoria and that flow state where you just feel like you can't miss, make all those hard days more than worth it. I was just trying to get the crowd going and it's always fun when you shoot the ball well."
"But it's even better when you couple that with a win."
At one point, Thompson got overwhelmed with the emotions of the moment, pounding on his chest after a three.
"Sometimes when are out there and you're having fun, things just come about without intention or thought, and I think I was saying something along the lines along -- a few probably cuss words I'm not proud of but those are the moments I feel the best as an athlete when you feel like you're just clicking with your game is just effortless."