Klay Thompson gives the Warriors a head start in the matchup over the Lakers

SAN FRANCISCO — What does this series mean to klay thompson? Could you tell when he was yelling to the back rows of Chase Center in the midst of the Warriors’ easy 127-100 Game 2 victory over the lakers Thursday? What does all this mean for Klay?

How is everything?

First, of course, this second-round matchup is the Warriors’ chance to reach the Western Conference finals for the seventh time in nine seasons and take another big step toward a potential back-to-back title and fifth this era. He Warriors they needed this win because they lost Game 1, but now the series is tied 1-1, and the Warriors feel good about what they’ve found out as the series moves to Los Angeles for Game 3 on Saturday.

Something to know: There is no fiercer keeper of the Warriors’ competitive flame than Thompson. He mostly does it behind the scenes, but the staff and teammates smile when they tell how much Klay rages at any perceived slight and any opponent he believes lacks perspective on what the Warriors have accomplished or what it takes to win titles. .

“First candidates!” I’ve heard Klay bellow in the locker room more than a few times when he’s watching a game on TV and sees a team he feels is making a half-hearted effort at a difficult time.

Secondly, it is another momentous stage for Klay to prove, once and for all (and once again) that he is fully and fantastically recovered after missing all of the 2019-20 and 2020-21 seasons and part of last season due to to two massive legs. Injuries he was crucial in the championship race last postseason, but he is 33 years old and the questions keep coming up after every uneven performance, even very recently.

And finally, Klay grew up rooting for the Lakers, idolizing Kobe Bryant and dating his father, Mychal, the longtime Lakers broadcaster. That’s part of why Thompson was so furious with himself after his 9-for-25 shooting performance in Game 1. He has perhaps the best Warriors matchup in this series: The Lakers have to put up their only true perimeter defender, jarred vanderbiltin Stephen Curryso they are protecting Klay with austin reaves either dennis schroeder. Which should be a huge advantage for the Warriors. It didn’t work that way in Game 1.

“I didn’t play well, personally,” Thompson said Thursday night of his Game 1 effort. “I thought my guard was down.”

But his guard was up in Game 2 and his shots were accurate. Thompson began to heat up in the second quarter when he scored 14 points on 4-of-5 shooting from 3-point range. And he kept going, hitting three more 3-pointers in the third quarter on his way to 30 points on 11-of-18 shooting overall and 8-of-11 from long range.

Led by Curry’s pass-first mentality and a scattered floor thanks to many small-ball lineups, the Warriors moved the ball, forced the Lakers defense to try to catch them, and Reaves, Schröder, D’Angelo Russell or whoever the Lakers tried to put on Klay just couldn’t defend him. Thompson went plus-28 in his 31 minutes and was ecstatic afterwards.

Because every playoff series is huge, but this one, the first against the Lakers and still the sixth since his long inactivity, is essential for Klay. It is better than Reaves, Schröder, rui hachimura, Russell or any of the Lakers’ secondaries. The Lakers have to throw everything at Curry. So Klay is the advantage. But there is also pressure in that.

“When I get a chance to go back to Detroit, I’m excited as fuck, and it’s a regular-season game and they really haven’t been very good for most of my career.” dramond green he told me when I asked him about Klay’s specific motivations in this series. “He’s playing the Lakers, who he’s grown up watching win championships. He has had the opportunity to win championships. And now you have a chance to face them in the playoffs?

“So I think with all those emotions, it’s different. With that also comes having to manage those emotions. That side is never mentioned. It’s like, man, you’re excited. But with that comes a bit of pressure. With that comes,’I want to make it right so wrong.’ That can work against you sometimes. I think today he was pretty much settled in, pissed off and ready to go.”

Obviously, Thompson’s emotions will probably hit even harder in the arena that was known as Staples Center when Klay used to go there as a kid to watch Kobe.

“I’ll just be myself,” Thompson said. “I’m going to play hard at both ends and look for good shots. But just from a life point of view, it’s an amazing experience to play in front of my friends and family.

“I mean, I would go to Staples as a high school basketball player with my parents, dreaming of playing on that court, playing against the best in the world, and now being here and being a part of it, I don’t. I lose sight of that perspective of how great this opportunity is, and I’m excited to do it in a building where all my basketball dreams came from.”

The bottom line, though, is that the Warriors have two championship-proven explosive shooters who can tip games for themselves. (They have three when jordan poole shoots well, though that has come and gone this season). And the Lakers can probably only defend one of them. Not surprisingly, they chose to focus on Curry, who made just 12 shots Thursday (but had 12 assists) after making just 10 of his 24 shots in Game 1.

The Warriors have other ways to beat the Lakers, of course. They lined up Draymond in antonio davis since the start of Thursday and Davis only had 11 points and 7 rebounds after he went for 30 and 23 in Game 1. The Warriors are putting Andrew Wiggins in Lebron James and he’s making LeBron work, limiting him to 22 and 23 points, respectively, so far. The Warriors got a shocking 15 points from the emergency headline JaMychal Green Thursday when kevon looney contracted an illness that limited his availability.

But when you look at the matchups and watch this series play out, the Warriors’ gigantic advantage is that Klay will likely be open if the ball moves well. And that he’ll probably go for 30 or more every time that happens.

“Any time Klay Thompson is on the court, I think we have an advantage,” Draymond said. “I don’t care who guards him, I think we’re going to have an advantage.”

Steve Kerr said: “I mean, Klay can always get going. It doesn’t matter how many wing defenders the opponent has. Klay is always able to let go. I think the key, again, we had 38 assists. So the key for us tonight was to get the movement, get the flow and just continue to hit singles and not try to force anything. So when we do that, Klay tends to have a really clean look, and that’s what happened tonight.”

However, Thompson echoed Draymond’s point: You can’t force things just because it’s a good matchup or because you really want to win this series. Thompson said he felt like he rushed some shots in Game 1. On Thursday, he moved into the open spots, caught the passes and let it all get into the flow.

“It’s just about sticking to the game plan and not getting caught up in the one-on-one matchup,” Klay said. “If you feel like they don’t match up, sometimes you overcompensate. For me, it’s about staying in the flow of the offense and looking for good shots. When I do that, I have nights like that.”

His teammates knew how angry Klay was after Game 1. And they knew what was likely to come next. Especially in this series, against this opponent, at this point in Klay’s life and career. He will now he will go to Los Angeles, more than ready to show it all again, at least a few more times.

(Photo: Cary Edmondson/USA Today)