Klay Thompson bolsters his Warriors history with another historic achievement

Klay complements the Warriors legacy with a historic game against OKC, originally aired on NBC Sports Bayarea

SAN FRANCISCO — Like Usain Bolt, who shot from the blocks at the Olympics, or Tiger Woods, who smoked the field in a major in his prime, Klay Thompson is a fascinating sight in a “zone” on the basketball court.

And there it was, out of nowhere, Monday night at the Chase Center, Thompson rained down jump shots, reducing much of the anxiety that comes with knowing the Warriors will be indefinitely without team catalyst Stephen Curry.

Though Thompson finished with a game-high 42 points, it was the 18 he fielded in the first quarter that spurred the sell-out crowd (18,064), woke his teammates and despite it all, a 141-114 win over an Oklahoma City Thunder squad unleashed his courage had no answer to his relentless onslaught.

Klay’s work was so devastating that the Warriors, down by six after a quarter, led by seven at halftime 25 after three quarters.

“We feed on Klay all the time,” said coach Steve Kerr. “But especially on a night like tonight when we’re down early and dropping a lot of points. OKC really came out and hit us in the mouth right away; 9-2 (lead) straight out of the gate. And you could tell they played with a lot of energy and speed.

“Klay just kept us early with his shot-making and allowed us to find our groove.”

Thompson’s first 33 points took just 19 minutes – 18 in the first half and the first 67 seconds of the second. Less than two minutes into the third quarter, he was 12 of 16 off the field, including 9 of 11 from across the arc.

He kept going just because he could, dumping three more threes in the fourth quarter to finish with a game-high 42 points on 15-of-22 shooting, including 12-of-16 from deep. His standing ovation was well deserved.

“I was just chasing great recordings,” Thompson said. “I got some great looks early on and I thought they were all in rhythm. I got maybe two bad shots tonight so it was a great night to shoot the ball.

This was one of those games that fits into so many others from Klay’s legend, with shots appearing to be guided cleanly through the basket by a magnetic force from his hand. When distance doesn’t matter, angle doesn’t matter, or whether it’s balanced or not.

Thompson, who turns 33 on Wednesday, now has eight games in which he has at least 10 3-pointers. The only person with more? Curry, at 22.

With Klay’s shot and an outstanding overall game from Jordan Poole — 21 points on 14 shots, a career-high 12 assists — the Thunder were surprisingly defenseless against a Warriors roster without Curry.

“They got what they wanted offensively,” said Thunder guard Josh Giddey. “I mean it helps when Klay kicks the ball like he did.”

This is the Klay the Warriors need if they want to be at their best with Curry for at least a few weeks. It’s not as if Thompson needs to get nuclear with amazing efficiency, but if he’s fielding 30 or so while shooting nearly 50-40-90 splits — very much within his capabilities — Golden State’s offense will breathe a lot easier.

“If (Klay) starts early, he’s such a threat that we just play him,” Poole said. “We know he’ll be walking around and we’ll find him when he opens. But once Klay gets hot or Steph gets hot, the teams start helping out a little bit more. And we’re such a good cut team off the ball and the reads we’re doing on offense really help with that.”

The Warriors shot a season-high 57.7 percent from the field, 52 percent of which was from beyond the arc. Thompson and Poole combined to shoot 17 of 27 from long range. With a season high of 43 assists, the offensive was booming.

“We needed it,” said Draymond Green of Golden State’s first win by more than 25 points over a team other than Spurs. “It’s been a while since we’ve had a blowout win. It’s good to have this, the first game with Steph.”

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Curry will miss the next four games before the All-Star break and probably a half dozen more after the break. If the Warriors can hover around .500 during his absence, they’ll stay in position to chase a top-six seed last month.

If Klay has a few more games like this in the next few weeks, the chase will continue as Curry looks on in street clothes.

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