Thompson returned from injury in his second game, the Warriors lost 108-116 away to the fiery Grizzlies, but Thompson's personal state in the game, as well as his influence on both ends of the attack and defense, is still gratifying and gives people unlimited hope.
Thompson suffered a severe anterior cruciate ligament tear in Game 6 of the 2019 Finals, and after a year of recuperation, he tore his Achilles tendon just before the start of the 2020-21 season, only to return to the game after 941 days of playing at home on Monday.
During this time, the Warriors have undergone many changes, and have experienced a strong recovery after experiencing dormancy. While people expect Thompson's return to help the Warriors regain the summit, they do not dare to have full confidence in how far he can recover after suffering two devastating injuries in a row.
Playing the Cavaliers two days ago, Thompson, who made his debut, basically reassured himself, scoring 17 points on 7-of-18 shooting. But objectively speaking, he was not the key to the Warriors' victory at that time, and in the 20 minutes he was on the court, everyone was more in cooperation with him to find a sense of play, during which the Warriors lost 2 points to the opponent (96-82 won 14 points).
And today's game, although he lost, Thompson gave all Warriors fans stronger confidence. When he was present, we really saw the master of kings who were once incomparably familiar.
The Grizzlies are the NBA's hottest team in recent times, and this youth team has played an excellent performance of 19 wins and 4 losses in the past 23 games, ranking first in the league in the same period, averaging 13.1 points per game against opponents, which is a ride. Young defender Jay Morant flew around the sky, half red.
But despite facing such a difficult opponent, the Warriors coaching staff remained patient enough — they continued to strictly enforce Thompson's playing time limit (20 minutes), and did not arrange for Peyton Jr. to start for Morant, but let Toscano Anderson replace Green.
Apparently, the Warriors did not take the victory or defeat of this game too seriously, but hoped to seize every possible opportunity to let Thompson slowly recover the feeling of play, so that the whole team was familiar with the formation combination to be used for a longer time in the future.
But this arrangement also paid a price, in Thompson's 4 and a half minutes of playing time before the game, the Warriors basically played back and forth with the opponent (the Warriors were 8-9 behind when Thompson was replaced in the first quarter of 7 minutes and 30 seconds), but after Thompson came off the court, they were immediately hit by the opponent with a wave of 7-0 small climax, and fell into a passive situation. By the time Thompson returned with 5:42 left in the second quarter, the field gap had been stretched to 18 points.
In the first round after Thompson returned, he attracted a defensive pinch and assisted rookie Moody to score an easy dunk. Because of his pulling power on the outside, Curry was also relieved and completed the first sports goal of the game. Coupled with Payton's successful defense against Morant after coming on the court, the Warriors quickly gained momentum and continued to shrink the score.
In the final attack before halftime, Thompson's breakthrough layup was blocked by the opponent, but then the Warriors issued a bottom ball, Thompson received the ball in the left bottom corner, and hit the first three-point shot at the 24-second whistle, and the Warriors were able to force the point difference to single digits, trailing 8 points at 51-59 into the halftime break.
Throughout the first half, during Thompson's off-season, the Warriors lost 17 points to their opponents. And the 10 minutes and 12 seconds he was on the floor, the Warriors scored 9 points!
After escaping from the edge of the cliff, Cole simply adjusted the starting lineup in the second half, replacing Anderson with Payton. The Warriors began the third quarter with an airtight defense to show the dominance of the championship team — after a wave of 12-0 offense, it went from eight points behind to a four-point lead, and then further extended the advantage to eight points.
Unfortunately, due to strict time control, Thompson was again replaced as planned in the third quarter until 7 minutes and 14 seconds. The Warriors' offensive and defensive ends were suddenly in chaos, and the score that was hard to win back was lost again. By the time Thompson made his last appearance 4:39 ahead of the final game, the Warriors were already trailing 99-103.
Although after that, Thompson scored 4 points in a row through two free throws and an emergency stop jump shot, but opposite Jones hit a big heart of three consecutive points, Morant's is still sharp, and although the "Adversity Buddha" tried his best, he still failed to "complete his merits" after all.
In the whole game, Thompson played 19 minutes and 37 seconds, during which the Warriors scored 17 points, +/- value was the first in the team, except for him, only bench raider Peyton's +/- value was positive (+9). And when Thompson was resting, the Warriors lost 25 points to their opponents!
In addition to the impact of the game that the data can reflect, Thompson's role at both ends of the offensive and defensive ends is also visible to the naked eye:
Although today's 14-point score is not as good as the previous game, and he did not stage a personal dunk again, he has less excitement on the court and more calm. The following quick stops and retreat jump shots, breakout lever layups, including the bottom corner three-pointer in front, prove that he has adapted more to the rhythm of the game, but also has absolute confidence in his form.
Defensively, Thompson's help was equally enormous. Today, he is mainly responsible for defending the opposing team's number two scorer Desmond Bane, and in the process of direct confrontation, whether it is foot speed, confrontational strength, or calm restraint in the face of fake moves, he has shown the level that the league's top 3D should be. Bain, who has averaged 17.7 points per game this season and shot 47.4 percent from the field, scored just 11 points on 3-of-14 shooting today, and Klay is definitely credited with it.
In addition, in several misalignments against Jaren Jackson Jr. and Morant, Clay did not suffer at all.
If you have to use the data as an argument: during Thompson's presence today, the Warriors' defensive efficiency is a staggering 84.8 (100 rounds of points lost), while all the other teammates have triple-digit defensive efficiency!
This season, the Warriors averaged 4.5 points per game in the third quarter, ranking first in the league. Today, although Thompson's performance declined significantly after he left the court, they still scored 39 points in this quarter, netting 11 points against their opponents, and almost won again with the "courage of three crazy".
The Grizzlies are undoubtedly a respectable opponent, but leaving aside the fact that both sides have the main injury absence, if Thompson recovers for a period of time and lifts the playing time limit, they will not dig such a deep pit for themselves in front, and they can more calmly go around with their opponents in the back.
On May 17 last year, Stephen Curry scored 46 points, and the Warriors still lost to the Grizzlies in the playoffs and were blocked out of the playoffs. This season, neither team looks like it will have to compete for a playoff spot through the playoffs anymore, but there's still a considerable chance that the two sides will meet in the second round.
What we see today, of course, is not yet the best Klay Thompson. But if, in a few months, the Warriors do meet the Grizzlies again in the playoffs, a Thompson back to normal state should have made a different ending.