After a knee ACL in the sixth game of the 2019 Finals, and a major injury to a torn right Achilles tendon at the end of 2020, Clay has missed two consecutive seasons of games.
941 days, what a long time for an NBA player at the peak.
So how much success did he recover after his comeback?
Before we get into that, let's briefly review Clay's performance over the past five games.
On Jan. 9, the Warriors played against the Cavaliers at home, and Clay made his season debut.
Playing 20 minutes, 7-of-18 shooting, 3-of-8 three-pointers, he scored 17 points and 3 rebounds to help the Warriors beat the Cavaliers 96-82.
In the second quarter of the game, he turned away from Cavaliers center Allen and killed the inside of the dunk technique to shock four.
Just when everyone was still worried about whether Clay's body would match the high-intensity game after two major injuries, this burst dunk was like a declaration to the world: Don't worry, I'm still the Klay Thompson you know.
After his stunning debut, Klay's three games followed, with the Warriors losing consecutively to the Memphis Grizzlies, Milwaukee Bucks and Minnesota Timberwolves. Especially against the Bucks on the road, he lost by 29 points at most in the first half, setting a record for the team's largest half-time point difference since 1962.
In these three games, Clay shot 13 of 38 and shot only 34.2% from the field.
Then there was Thompson, who faced the weak pistons today, who shot 6-of-13 and scored 21 points, 4 assists and 2 steals, all three of which set a career high since his return.
Let's start with the conclusion:
One, still the top pitcher
First tell a small story Ha, this season Wiggins was very puzzled when training with Thompson, so he asked Iguodala: "Doesn't Thompson practice dribbling?" He only practices shooting? ”
Iguodala replied calmly, "He doesn't need to dribble." ”
If you watch Clay's ball for a long time, you must remember december 7, 2016, the Warriors' home game against the Pacers, Klay in 29 minutes of playing time, 33 shots 21, 14 three-pointers 8 of 14, slashed 60 points, that game he held the ball for a total of only 90 seconds.
That's where Clay's best is, a super three-pointer who doesn't have the ball and doesn't need to dribble with the ball.
There is no doubt that two major injuries will definitely affect Clay's athletic ability, but the feel of the top pitcher in NBA history will not deceive.
After the comeback, Clay averaged 7.2 three-pointers per game in 21 minutes, equivalent to 12.3 shots per 36 minutes, and the only three-point shots per 36 minutes in the league were the Nuggets' Marcus Howard and Steven Curry.
What does this mean?
Clay still has confidence in his projection, and it's 100 percent confident in the bones of the top shooters.
And as long as you watch the game, it is not difficult to find: whether it is the hand shape, the posture, the shooting speed, the tactics that the Warriors used to play around him, or the same as before he was injured.
If there are any changes in the technical movements, I don't know if you have noticed that Clay's legs are not as straight as they were when he shoots now, but I guessed that at the end of the season, the leg strength is fully restored, and this detail difference does not exist.
Second, the defense is very hard, the effect is acceptable, but it may not be top-notch
Clay used to be ridiculed by everyone as the best 3D player in the league, and used to need to defend the opponent's outside star, and his advantage on the defensive end was that he was oppressive, focused on interference, rarely gambling steals, and would not lose his position.
Coming back from these five games, although the sensory movement is not as good as before, Clay's defensive data is still very beautiful: 7.6 shots per game to interfere with the opposing player, which can limit the shooting rate of the opposing player by 8.9% lower than usual. A total of 0.8 steals and 0.4 blocks per game is comparable to his base stats of 0.8 steals + 0.5 blocks in 17-18.
We can also find that Klay's lateral movement speed when defending is not as good as before, but it basically maintains the previous level, because he has been holding back for too long, he is actually quite anxious to prove himself when attacking, so he has a lot of shots, and when he defends, he also plays with his life as before, playing the Timberwolves, and as soon as the game starts, he goes to fight with the Timberwolves players.
Kerr had previously said he wanted Clay to control less than 24 minutes per game and not play back-to-back, but Clay himself said he wanted to play 35 minutes, so we can say that his physical fitness and physical condition have at least recovered to more than 75%.
But with me, after all, Klay has not played for so long, or have to slowly find the feeling of playing, anyway, the Warriors now have a fair record and ranking, the most important task in the second half is actually to help Klay recover, as long as they can find 80% of the state before the injury, this Warriors may be able to do everything they want to do.
Can Clay recover to that? My answer is the same as the 2007 Warriors playoff slogan: WE BELIEVE.
Finally, before the start of the season, I wrote in the preview that I was optimistic that they would make it to the Western Conference Finals, and I hoped that these guys could do it.