Klay Thompson hadn’t come off the bench since his rookie 12 months. The reserve position suited him Thursday.
After a late miscue in Wednesday’s loss to the Clippers, Steve Kerr took Thompson out of the beginning lineup for the primary time since March 2012. Even after lacking two-and-a-half seasons with accidents to his Achilles tendon and his ACL, Thompson nonetheless at all times began each time he performed.
Till Thursday in Salt Lake Metropolis.
Thompson began the sport on the bench, behind rookie Brandin Podziemski, however he didn’t keep there lengthy. Thompson entered 5 minutes into the sport, and scored 10 factors on six photographs earlier than the quarter was up.
He was nice for 3 quarters, scoring 35 factors in 18 minutes, hitting seven of his 13 three-point makes an attempt because the Warriors took an 18-point lead going into the ultimate quarter.
After Utah opened the fourth with a 13-3 run, Thompson and the starters returned, however he missed all 4 of his photographs within the quarter as Golden State held on to win 140-137.
After the sport, Steve Kerr stated the Warriors would proceed with bringing Thompson off the bench.
Thompson appeared to just accept the transfer, telling reporters, “You’ll be able to pout or you possibly can go on the market and reply.” He added, “I assumed I did the latter very nicely tonight.”
He additionally cited the success of Manu Ginobili and stated he “deserved” to be benched.
With the victory, the Warriors moved 2.5 video games forward of the Jazz for the West’s last play-in spot going into the All-Star break. They could be going into the playoffs with a extremely overqualified new sixth man.
