The under-manned Warriors win in double overtime against the Hawks behind Klay Thompson's 54 points
The Warriors get some bad injury news and immediately run four of their starters 40+ minutes, Klay Thompson has a huge night, Jordan Poole struggles in the most important moments of the game, and more
Hours before tonight’s improbably 143-141 victory against the Atlanta Hawks, Steve Kerr delivered some ominous news during his pregame press availability.
The Warriors would be without Andrew Wiggins, James Wiseman, JaMychal Green, and Jonathan Kuminga for the foreseeable future. The phrase, “no timetables”, is an ominous one, especially for a team that is quite opaque about the details and severity of their players’ injuries. That made it all the more disturbing to hear that Jonathan Kuminga was wearing a walking boot because of his foot sprain.
Naturally, the Warriors, who only had 10 available players (that is if you count Ryan Rollins as an NBA player), proceeded to win their most bonkers victory of the season in a double-overtime thriller that had no shortage of highlights, lowlights, and statistical wonders.
Let’s start with Klay Thompson: in 45 minutes (!), Klay scored 54 points on 39 shots and hit 10 of his 21 three-point attempts. Klay had it going early and his 16-point first quarter helped the Warriors get out to a big lead early. At one point in the first half, the Warriors led by 21 points, and that once-commanding lead helped the Warriors survive a demoralizing third-quarter collapse where the Hawks outscored the Warriors 42-25, as well as as a fourth quarter where the Warriors trailed by as many as 9 points.
Klay has put together more games recently where he’s been selective with his shots and played with composure, but tonight was his crown jewel. I’ve noted this before — when Klay hits shots early, he seems more willing to make advantageous passes for his teammates — and in the Warriors’ minutes without Jordan Poole, Klay struck a tasteful balance between hunting his own shots and creating open looks for his teammates.
Somehow, Klay Thompson found the physical and mental fortitude to withstand 45 grueling minutes and hit clutch shot after clutch shot in the fourth quarter and the first overtime period. Including the playoffs, this was the 9th-most minutes that Klay has ever played in an NBA game and the last time he cleared the 45-minute mark was in the Warriors’ closeout victory against the Portland Trail Blazers in the 2019 Western Conference Finals.
It’s late here in Central Time where I am and my brain can no longer present thoughts in linear fashion after watching tonight’s game, so let’s just move onto an extended section of observations and thoughts:
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