Klay Thompson’s absurd third quarter shots, graded

It’s early in the third quarter, and the Sacramento Kings just took a two-point lead on the Golden State Warriors. The Warriors look sluggish after a fast start and surrendered the first seven points of the frame on a Darren Collison three, Derrick Williams layup and DeMarcus Cousins fadeaway. They are in jeopardy of suffering the kind of embarrassing loss the best team in the league had avoided all season.

And then, Klay Thompson strikes. Ten minutes and 37 (!) points later, the Warriors are clear sailing (and you can see every single shot he made in that time span if you like). How did the team’s shooting guard do this?

THE TIME: 9:45 left in the third quarter.

THE PLAY: A Cousins miss leads to the Warriors rushing the ball down the court looking for early offense. When that stalls, Thompson gets the ball on the right wing. Draymond Green comes to screen for him to go to his right, but Thompson declines the pick and instead veers left. Ben McLemore stays with Thompson nicely, but this is where Thompson’s ball-handling improvement comes into play. Thompson keeps his dribble low and tight to avoid the digging Quincy Miller, plants his left leg beautifully and spins both McLemore and Miller into the dust for a 12-foot pull-up. Cousins can’t step up to contest in time.

WARRIORS ANNOUNCERS: “A little more under control there. I thought he rushed it in the first half, but he made that little pivot. He’s expecting Cousins to close, but he wasn’t there, so he just went up and hit the little jump shot.” -Jim Barnett

KINGS ANNOUNCERS: “Klay Thompson -- and he now has 15.” -Grant Napear

DEGREE OF DIFFICULTY: 8 out of 10 for the move, 5 out of 10 for the shot. It’s tough to hit shots in that in-between range.

THE TIME: 8:25 left in the third quarter.

THE PLAY: Thompson is also known for his defense, which he puts on display here. As Derrick Williams drives down the lane, Thompson notices his teammates converging on him. Rather than also protect the basket, Thompson stays with McLemore and plays the passing lane. When Williams inevitably gets stuck, he jump-passes in McLemore’s direction, exactly where Thompson is standing. A wide-open pull-up three from the top of the key follows.

WARRIORS ANNOUNCERS: “Good timing. They needed that.” -Jim Barnett

KINGS ANNOUNCERS: “This is one of those rare teams that are more than happy to pull up and shoot threes in transition, because they’re good at it.” -Jerry Reynolds

“They actually prefer that, I think.” -Grant Napear

DEGREE OF DIFFICULTY: 4 out of 10. The positioning was superb, but Thompson does that stuff regularly. A pull-up three is like a layup when he’s locked in.

THE TIME: 7:15 left in the third quarter.

THE PLAY: A Williams’ missed corner three-pointer leads to a three-on-two break for the Warriors. McLemore freaks out about Stephen Curry in the middle and sinks way off Thompson on the left wing. This is too easy.

WARRIORS ANNOUNCERS: “They can be streaky. Streaky good.” -Jim Barnett

KINGS ANNOUNCERS: “That’s a perfect example. They have numbers and they prefer to shoot the three.” -Grant Napear.

DEGREE OF DIFFICULTY: 2 out of 10.

THE TIME: 6:06 left in the third quarter.

THE PLAY: Blame Williams again. The Kings’ forward grabs a rebound off a missed McLemore corner three-pointer and tries going back up with the shot, but he is stuffed. The ball trickles to Thompson and four Kings were stuck, leaving Collison in the impossible position of defending a Curry/Klay two-on-one fast break. Thompson feeds back to Curry, who returns the favor with a perfect lob pass.

WARRIORS ANNOUNCERS: “Klay’s got that kind of elevation. You’re kind of holding your breath when he starts that lob. One guard there, so you know he has no chance. And this guy that throws the lob is a little more accurate than most people in the league. And Thompson -- I’ve never seen so many dunks from him as we’ve seen this year. Sometimes, initiated by himself, and sometimes on the break.” -Jim Barnett

KINGS ANNOUNCERS: “Well -- that will be two guys you see a lot of in the All-Star Game.” -Grant Napear

DEGREE OF DIFFICULTY: 5 out of 10 because he brought it down with one hand. Points are docked because Curry set him up perfectly.

THE TIME: 5:34 left in the third quarter.

THE PLAY: Kings’ coach Ty Corbin puts struggling rookie Nik Stauskas on Thompson, which is kind of like asking a ninth-grade student to master calculus. The Warriors quickly have Thompson curl off a Bogut screen going middle, which Stauskas actually covers well. But to his shock, Thompson pulls up for three anyway and hits. Not fair.

WARRIORS ANNOUNCERS: “Oh, he’s feeling it. ABSOLUTELY feeling it.” -Bob Fitzgerald

KINGS ANNOUNCERS: “Right now, Klay Thompson and DeMarcus Cousins are really having a shootout here in the third.” -Jerry Reynolds

DEGREE OF DIFFICULTY: 8.5 out of 10, only because Thompson elevated so much higher than Stauskas.

THE TIME: 4:59 left in the third quarter.

THE PLAY: Thompson wants to shoot a few seconds earlier, but Cousins lumbers far out from the hoop to prevent it from happening. But Thompson is undeterred. He gets the ball back from 30 feet away, pretends to request a screen, then fires away anyway. How could you not close out on him, Nik Stauskas,” mutters some angry Kings fan who later realizes he’s not making sense.

WARRIORS ANNOUNCERS: “He’s feeling it! Six for six, including four threes in this quarter. He said, ‘I’m not going to give the ball up, because I may not get it back. I think I’ll just launch it.” -Jim Barnett

“Jim, I don’t know if Klay Thompson is an All-Star. Might have to think about that.” -Bob Fitzgerald

KINGS ANNOUNCERS: [Actually speechless]

DEGREE OF DIFFICULTY: 10 out of 10. Poor Nik Stauskas.

THE TIME: 4:20 left in the third quarter.

THE PLAY: The Warriors run what’s known as a “screen the screener” play. Thompson sets a cross screen for Andrew Bogut to go to the right block, then immediately turns and curls off a Green screen to go to the left wing. A play earlier, Corbin put the 6’3 Ray McCallum on the 6’7 Thompson, for reasons that will forever remain unclear. Thus, Thompson is able to catch, turn and shoot with no hands in his face.

WARRIORS ANNOUNCERS: “Seven for 10 on threes. Thirty-two in the game. Nineteen in the quarter!.” -Bob Fitzgerald

“He’s unconscious. That shot? ” -Jim Barnett

KINGS ANNOUNCERS: “Wow. I don’t know what else to say.” -Grant Napear

[Jerry Reynolds says nothing]

“You’ve got nothing to say either.” -Grant Napear

“No. [pauses]. There’s no words.” -Jerry Reynolds

DEGREE OF DIFFICULTY: 7 out of 10. Why is Ray McCallum guarding him?

THE TIME: 3:05 left in the third quarter.

THE PLAY: Nothing complicated. Just a quick curl off a David Lee screen for a sliver of daylight, which is all Thompson needs considering how hot he is and his height advantage over McCallum. McCallum should have realized that screen was coming. He doesn’t, so he got caught.

WARRIORS ANNOUNCERS: “And KLAY! Eight for eight! ANOTHER THREE.” -Bob Fitzgerald

“When you’re hot, you get the shooter’s roll. And that is a soft touch. Front of the rim, backboard and comes in. ” -Jim Barnett

KINGS ANNOUNCERS: “As long as they’ve got Klay Thompson on the floor, they’ve got a good chance. Is that guy ever going to miss?” -Grant Napear

“That was a heat check shot right there, I think. He wasn’t open, but he got it up and off.” -Jerry Reynolds

“That’s his eighth three-point shot.” -Grant Napear

“Eight out of 11. That’s not bad. That’s not bad for layups.” -Jerry Reynolds

DEGREE OF DIFFICULTY: 7 out of 10. Why is Ray McCallum guarding him?

THE TIME: 2:30 left in the third quarter.

THE PLAY: This again shows Thompson’s growth from last year to now. He catches a back pass from Green on the break and Collison, the closest King, immediately closes out into his grill. But instead of settling for the three, Thompson puts his head down, dribbles low and tight with his left hand and gets all the way to the bucket for the finish over multiple Kings.

WARRIORS ANNOUNCERS: “That’s a 24-point quarter.” -Jim Barnett

KINGS ANNOUNCERS: “Klay Thompson is absolutely putting on a show in the third quarter. He’s got 37 points. Amazing. Sixteen for the quarter.” -Grant Napear

DEGREE OF DIFFICULTY: 8 out of 10. Thompson drove past a quicker defender and that was not an easy finish.

THE TIME: 2:07 left in the third quarter.

THE PLAY: Another Kings’ miss leads to another Warriors’ fast break, and you know where Curry is looking. Thompson is streaking down the right wing and McCallum is desperately trying to track him. Curry’s pass is actually behind Thompson, but Klay gobbles it up and fires in one motion. McCallum again fails to grow four inches in an instant and Thompson scored again.

WARRIORS ANNOUNCERS: “YESSIR! OH, MAN! FORTY! Ties his career high in threes. One point off his career best.” -Bob Fitzgerald

“But a 27-point quarter! To me, that’s more remarkable.” -Jim Barnett

KINGS ANNOUNCERS: “You’ve got to turn the sprinklers on for this guy, because this guy is on absolute fire.” -Grant Napear

“I’ll tell you what: the sprinkler system won’t work.” -Jerry Reynolds

DEGREE OF DIFFICULTY: 9.5 out of 10.

THE TIME: 1:37 left in third quarter.

THE PLAY: The Warriors’ first thought is to give the ball to Thompson coming down the left wing. Thompson veers right off a Green screen, and the Kings know they needed to swarm. Stauskas does a nice job going over the top and Jason Thompson steps way to stop the three. But instead of firing away, Klay weaves closer to the basket to set up a 16-foot stepback. Jason Thompson recovers nicely to contest the shot, but it doesn’t matter.

WARRIORS ANNOUNCERS: “ARE YOU KIDDING ME? A new career-high, 29 in the third. FORTY-TWO IN THE GAME.” -Bob Fitzgerald

“He’s outscored the Kings, 29-19, in this quarter!” -Jim Barnett

KINGS ANNOUNCERS: “Even Steph Curry is smiling on the court.” -Grant Napear

DEGREE OF DIFFICULTY: 10.5 out of 10.

THE TIME: 1:07 left in third quarter.

THE PLAY: Curry immediately looks for Thompson on the left wing for a dribble handoff. Stauskas defends it well, forcing Thompson to fade baseline to catch the ball and -- ha, ha, ha -- this is irrelevant because look at this shot.

WARRIORS ANNOUNCERS: [Both are laughing too much to have a coherent thought].

(After composing himself): “These are some of the greatest players in the world, and they can’t believe what they have been witnessing.” -Bob Fitzgerald.

“There’s only one person that can stop Klay, and that’s himself. The Kings double-team, triple-team, but he eludes them. He is just scoring. I mean, this is a moment in history here, because all the other players don’t want to shoot the ball. Curry wasn’t going to take the shot no matter what. They keep setting up Klay. They keep giving him the ball. He’s doing it himself.” -Jim Barnett

KINGS ANNOUNCERS: “No way. No way. That’s just not -- that is unbelievable. I mean, I’ve never seen anything like this and this is my 27th year of doing NBA basketball, Jerry.” -Grant Napear

“I’ve been in the league for 30 years. I’ve seen some great shooting displays. This one is No. 1.” -Jerry Reynolds

DEGREE OF DIFFICULTY: 785 out of 10.

THE TIME: 35.8 left in third quarter.

THE PLAY: The great Elevator Doors play, which I broke down in further detail two years ago.

WARRIORS ANNOUNCERS: “FORTY-EIGHT! THIRTY-FIVE IN THE QUARTER!” -Bob Fitzgerald, who definitely is losing his voice.

KINGS ANNOUNCERS: “WOW. He keeps it going! Klay Thompson, one of the great individual performances you’ll ever see.” -Grant Napear

DEGREE OF DIFFICULTY: 2 out of 10. He was wide open.

THE TIME: 4.9 left in third quarter.

THE PLAY: Thompson is fouled and hits two free throws. I point this out only to show how the Kings are flooding to him. (Also: Thompson hits a three after the whistle blew).

WARRIORS ANNOUNCERS: “I have never seen a shooting display like this. Never.” -Jim Barnett

KINGS ANNOUNCERS: “Truly one of the most amazing quarters in the history of the NBA.” -Grant Napear

“In case there was any doubt about him being on the All-Star team, anyone who wouldn’t vote for him now needs some serious counseling.” -Jerry Reynolds

DEGREE OF DIFFICULTY: 7 out of 10. How did he draw a foul in that setup?

(All screenshots via CSN Bay Area)

★★★