© Mike DiNovo-USA TODAY Sports
Have you just gotten off a long day of work, come home, and checked the score of the Warriors’ game? Are you now searching for answers as to what just happened? It’s OK, tonight was absurd, even for the Warriors.
Klay Thompson snapped a shooting duck by breaking the NBA record (Steph’s record) of 13 three-pointers in a game by making 14. And he did it in 27 minutes, because of course he did. The entire team was feeding Thompson on possession after possession, pleading with him to shoot, as he obliged. After missing on three-straight possessions, Klay finally hit No.14, and the Warriors, playing their bench for the rest of the game, went on to win 149-124.
Here are three notes from tonight’s game:
Klay’s just gonna Klay
I mean, come on. There is no other player in the league who could be slumping so bad and then break out in the jet-fuel-propelled fashion like Klay Thompson just did. He entered tonight’s game just 5-of-36 from deep.
So to break that slump, Klay just had to attack the worst defense in the NBA in the Chicago Bulls. He hit the NBA-record 14th three by the middle of the third quarter. It came almost comically, as the Warriors refused to do anything but give Thompson the ball.
When the 14th three did come, the often understated Thompson was visibly hyped, yelling, “Come on! Come on!” to himself as his teammates congratulated him. He hit that final three wearing a headband, after getting a cut on his forehead. He came back in promptly with the headband on and finished with 52 points.
McKinnie’s career-high homecoming makes clear McCaw isn’t needed
Today, Alfonzo McKinnie came home to the city that he grew up in, surprised his mom with a new house, and scored a career-high in front of friends and family. He set a career-high for points, with 19, and set rebound high, of 10.
At the end of the third quarter, McKinnie snatched an offensive rebound off a missed Jordan Bell free throw, put it back up, scored it, and got the foul. He’s stolen Patrick McCaw’s roster spot and exceeded what McCaw could do. He is clearly the team’s best offensive rebounder thanks in part, to his athleticism, but more evidently, from his will to go after the ball in the air.
He has provided a spark, shooting touch and effort level that have been a welcome surprise and may prove to be invaluable as the season goes on. Kevon Looney may be the only other Warriors who plays with such relentless abandon. McKinnie’s addition was unheralded at the start of the season, but he’s clearly cemented himself as one of the first players off the bench.
To the rest of the league, good luck
Remember how last year, the Warriors struggled early and took some nights off? How they didn’t seem to play with that fun, happy energy like they did in prior years? Well that’s gone. The Warriors are playing with a freedom like they’re not worried about trying to win a third-straight title.
Up until tonight, they had Curry and Durant clicking and the question was, “What happens when Thompson gets it going?” Tonight is what happens. The Warriors scored 125 points by the end of the third quarter and nearly hit the 150-point mark by the end of the game.
Just to review, here were the stat lines for the Warriors’ top four scorers:
Thompson: 52 points (18-29 FG, 14-24 3PT), 5 rebounds, 1 steal
Curry: 23 points (7-9 FG, 2-4 3PT), 8 rebounds, 5 assists, 3 steals
McKinnie: 19 points (7-15 FG, 4-6 3PT), 10 rebounds, 1 assist, 1 block
Durant: 14 points (5-10 FG, 1-4 3PT), 8 assists, 3 rebounds, 1 steal, 1 block