After 941 days, Klay Thompson returned to the Warriors.
- And as soon as I return, it's the starter.
No substitution transition, no caution, just starting, grand return.
There is also a reason:
Clay's last time on the bench was almost ten years: March 2012, his rookie year. Since then, there has never been a substitute. The Warriors respect him.
And, in the 2014-19 season, Cray's true shooting rate was 61% in the 8599 minutes he played with Curry; 4328 minutes without Curry, Clay's true shooting rate was 55%.
They have to be used together to have a wonderful effect.
In the opening, the Warriors came to him. Curry cut it out, Croy cut it out, picked up Wiggins to give the ball, and blatantly broke through. Neither Markkanen nor Aaron expected that when they closed the fence, they slowed down and Clay threw a shot.
The first minute of 941 days.
After that, he showed a blunt attitude, after all, he had just returned and conceded 4 goals in a row. But if you are a little more urgent, the arc will be flat. Tried to turn over and force a Shotkanen one, and didn't hit either.
The defensive end, because the mobile explosiveness did not come back, basically in the alignment of the no-ball player. Block the empty cut of markkanen, help the card slot, and so on. The task of defending the opposing ball carrier was still given to Wiggins.
In the first quarter, he played 4 and a half points with Curry and went down.
Halfway back in the second quarter, paired with the Poolers' second-team play.
Forcing out a change of defense, Aaron also boldly posted him, which meant: "Just comeback, see what you can do." ”
Then came the most amazing moment of the game: Clay pulling sideways, getting rid of it, breaking through, dunking.
Clay didn't dunk much, and in his career he took the regular season with the playoffs, which was the 137th dunk.
As for pulling the ball away from the three-point line to break through the dunk, it is even rarer.
After the dunk, Clay made a vicious expression: he was still a little tight before, but the ball was dunked, and the momentum returned.
Then pick up Porter's return pass, a three-pointer: give him plenty of time to prepare, and the empty three-pointer is still steady.
After shooting a three-pointer this time, he got serious again — but after that, sneaked a smile.
Like a child, "In fact, I am also a little nervous, always afraid that I will not be able to take the test, the paper is sent down to secretly look, 95 points... Heck, can't let people know, but... 95 points! ”
After this dunk and this three-pointer, Clay was released.
Then it was the start of the second half, two getting rid of jump shots, one three-pointer, 7 points in 2 and a half points, and stopping the Cavaliers.
- Even the signature third storm is back.
In the fourth quarter, it was played with Poole's second team for a while. After several snatched shots were missed, a jump pass assisted Looney.
Defensive end details:
When opposing Markkanen, he blocked Markkanen's internal cutting route; Markkanen also intended to try him with some small tricks - sudden topping, tough card positions and the like- and so on; in the second quarter, when he changed the defense against Garland, Clay gave priority to withdraw to block the breakthrough, and then predicted Garland's shot to block and interfere with success.
In the second half, he still deliberately retreated in the second half against Lamar Stevenson: he obviously knew that his movement had not fully returned, and he was not defensive, controlling the breakthrough route.
But the anticipation and reaction were there: so Markkanen took the ball, Clay moved sideways to pinch the shot, and sent another cover.
Then there's a three-pointer after getting rid of the ball, and it's over.
With less than 20 minutes to play, 18 shots — Curry is 21 in 36 minutes — and starting out, with Curry and Poole in both teams, the Warriors gave Clay a lot of confidence and sincerity.
As a result, we also saw: 17 points, 3 rebounds, 1 assist, 1 block, everything.
Because the movement has not fully returned, the single defense is more aligned with the non-ball wing side, relying on prejudgment and contraction pinch to play a role, no problem.
Interesting is the offensive end.
Clay shot seven goals today and had assists on three — a Wiggins pass that cut inside the basket in the opening, a three-pointer from Porter in the second quarter, and a three-pointer from Anderson in the third quarter.
Other four goals: Breaking through the dunk with the ball on his own; three free jumpers in the second half, including a three-pointer.
Clay eats assists 69 percent of his career two-pointers and 93 percent of his three-pointers.
Only 3 out of 7 goals shot today eat assists?
Two faces.
Not a good side: Clay is known for his quick and accurate shots, and after his sixth miracle with the Thunder in 2016, Curry said "just give him a line of space."
Clay's shooting has a big feature, there is no obvious so-called dip sinking action, and often catch a small jump before catching the ball, catching the ball, taking off, low jump height, smooth shot. Extremely fast.
The downside is that if you don't give him enough time to adjust before catching the ball, or if you don't recover your explosive power just today, if you want him to grab the shot, the shot will be flat.
So today Clay threw a few "this should have been before the injury" sniper long-range shots: the arc was flat.
This is still subject to time adjustment.
The good side is...
Clay's opening surprise attack on the Cavaliers' interior line today can be said to be unthinkable; the second quarter broke through the dunk, probably the Cavaliers and warriors were surprised on both sides.
Then it was the third quarter when the ball was held to get rid of the shot and stop the Cavaliers.
In the fourth quarter, this is called covering the three-point shot, which is especially obvious: if it is a flash of the ball, the shooting arc will be flat; but give him the opportunity to hold the ball to call a cover, have plenty of space, adjust the action to do enough, jump, start, medium.
So this Clay who came back, the empty cut flash sniper was still a little bit worse, but he got rid of the post-processing with the ball and came back first - and a little bit up.
Clay: I heard that the team is short of ball carriers now? ......
Anyway, the fact that he came back was enough in itself.
There was a moment of admiration after the game, Clay and Loew hugged for the first time - also old rivals, but since the 2018 finals, they have experienced their own life ups and downs, probably have a common language.
- Off-topic, of course, the salary is not matched, so there is nothing possible to achieve; but at this stage, Löw's technical configuration is actually very suitable for the Warriors system, and he is still very familiar with California...
Well, there are some things that can't be described by "17 points and three three-pointers in 20 minutes", nor is it "The Warriors are complete" and so on.
Clay earned $79 million in the first eight years of his career; the two years of his injury combined with this quarter, the total salary was $105 million. The team is waiting for him to return, giving him a start, giving him the right to shoot, hoping that he can play smoothly and happily.
And he hit back.
After he came off the court in the final moments of the game, the home fans shouted "We want Clay!" ”
No matter how cool it was, the vicious expression after the second quarter dunk, the relief after the three-point shot, and the then release-like attack in the third quarter, all showed some facts:
Even the top cold marksman in the history of basketball, when it comes to such moments, will still be worried, will be tempting, will self-persuade, will be nervous, will be happy.
When Curry grabbed the rebound in the third quarter, Clay smiled at him on the bench and signaled to him.
That's probably the best part of the basketball game.
Welcome back, Klay Thompson.