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On January 10, Beijing time, in the NBA regular season Golden State Warriors home game against the Cleveland Cavaliers, warrior star Klay Thompson, who had been absent for 941 days due to injury, ushered in his comeback battle. In this high-profile game, Thompson played 19 minutes and 55 seconds, 7 of 18 shots, and effectively cut 17 points, 3 rebounds, 1 assist and 1 block. In the game, he had both breakthroughs and dunks, and also shot 3 three-pointers, announcing his return strongly!
Thompson's last appearance for the Warriors was in Game 6 of the 2019 Finals, when he suffered a torn cruciate ligament in his left knee after a quick-break landing, which took him out of the entire 2019-2020 season. Just as he was preparing to return, Thompson suffered another tear in his right Achilles tendon in November 2020 that cost him a season. Today, 941 days have passed since he made the game. Thompson officially started training at the end of last year, and he went through a long recovery period and gradually joined the team's regular training. Although the Warriors have performed well this season without him, hovering between first and second in the league, his return has been expected by teammates and Golden State fans. Before the game, warrior teammates put on different Thompson jerseys to commemorate this special day.
If anyone is most looking forward to Clay's comeback, it is probably the other "Splash Brothers" - Stephen Curry. Before the game, when Clay announced his comeback, Curry deliberately changed his social media account avatar to Clay. Two and a half years ago, Curry looked at the departing Clay, sitting at the end of the court lonely figure has long been deeply rooted in people's hearts, and now, he can finally welcome back the most trusted brother around him.
In order to be able to witness the moment of Clay's return, Green, who suffered an injury during pre-match training, did not choose to quit, but after jumping the ball, limped to the opponent to foul, and then went off the court. In the 2014-2015 season, with Klay Thompson, Stephen Curry and Drummond Green as the three Warriors draft players, the Golden State Warriors won their first NBA championship since the 1974-1975 season, the first NBA championship of all the Warriors' individual careers. After going through the Warriors Dynasty, the three players are on the same court again, and the mood is even more special.
When Klay Thompson finally got back on the pitch, even his fans wouldn't expect much from his performance in his first game. However, from the first touch of the ball to choose to break through with the ball, when he rushed to the basket in the second quarter to complete the next dunk, when he hit a series of emergency stop shots and empty three-pointers, the familiar Klay Thompson seemed to never leave. He showed everything he had to the fans, and in those times when he wasn't in front of everyone, he didn't let the time go by, he could still make the game a night that belonged to Klay Thompson.
Before Klay Thompson returned, the outside world kept stressing that the last time he played, Durant was still in the Warriors, Irving was still in the Celtics, Harden was still in the Rockets, Westbrook and George were still in the Thunder, Kobe Bryant was still alive... But the only constant is the game where Klay was injured, the starters are still in the Warriors, Curry, Green, Iguodala, Looney, the Warriors' starting lineup is only Wiggins replaced Iguodala, who is about to turn 38, of course, their head coach is still Steve Kerr.
In the 2018-2019 season, Thompson averaged 21.5 points, 3.8 rebounds, 2.4 assists and 1.1 steals per game, and averaged 3.1 three-pointers per game from 40.2 percent shooting. Today, he still holds the NBA record for 14 three-pointers in a single game and 37 points in a single quarter. After the first game of the comeback, when asked about the performance of the team this season, Clay excitedly said: "I dare not say that we have the strength to win the championship now, but we are very close. "Maybe it's still too early to talk about the championship attribution, but some excitement can start to look forward to their performance!"