Just the threat of Klay Thompson is enough for the Warriors
How the Warriors’ shooting guard makes a great team even better with his mere presence.
Except, it wasn't Stephen Curry this time. Curry took just 11 shots and missed seven of them. Instead, the other Splash Brother, Klay Thompson, carried the Warriors with a 45-point night.
The breakout performance served as an important reminder of Thompson’s own talent and his unique importance to a great Warriors team. It also showed how deadly Thompson can be without even having to do much at all.
Thompson can score 45 without forcing things
One perceived knock on Thompson is that he doesn't have to create for himself or others like most stars. He can seem too passive at times, content with moving without the ball while Draymond Green and Curry do the heavy lifting on offense. More than 80 percent of his made field goals are assisted, and he averages just two helpers per game himself.
The reality is he simply takes what the defense gives him. Sometimes that means being marginalized, and sometimes it means the Warriors need him to go on huge scoring binges at a moment’s notice. In many ways, that’s more difficult than being the man every night.
It’s hard to score 45 points without taking bad shots, but that’s what Thompson did against the Mavericks. When they tried preventing him from taking three-pointers, Thompson killed them with back cuts. When they lost him trying to help on other Warriors, he hit catch-and-shoot jumpers. He scored coming off screens and found the open man when he was covered. Everything came within the flow of the offense. Nothing was forced.
Green’s emergence means Thompson is getting fewer touches than he did last season. He’s also holding the ball less, ranking sixth on the team in seconds per touch. So, he isn’t the No. 1 option in a traditional sense.
But he also is more valuable because he isn't that kind of player. He proved last season that he's capable of thriving as a featured player, but Golden State simply doesn't need him to have the ball in his hands much anymore. Fortunately, Thompson had no problem adjusting to playing almost exclusively off the ball. Only two other players -- Shabazz Muhammad and J.J. Redick -- average more points per touch.
Thompson doesn’t take the ball away from Curry, Green and the ball handlers the Warriors bring off the bench. When he does get it, though, he scores and scores quickly. Just ask the Mavericks.
Even when he doesn’t score, he helps the Warriors’ offense
There are players who need the ball in their hands to be useful on the offensive end. They provide a boost when they have big scoring nights, but aren’t helpful otherwise. Thompson, on the other hand, can score 11 points, as he did against the Spurs, and still be an essential cog in the offense because of his shadow impact.
Few players have more “gravity,” a term used to describe how much attention a player receives off the ball. Because Thompson is such a deadly shooter, he cannot be ignored under any circumstances. Teams know he will punish anyone who leaves him open for a second, and he can also make zoned-out defenders look foolish by making a cut at the right time. He essentially pulls defenders into his vortex with his mere presence.
Because he draws so much attention, the floor is more open for the rest of the Warriors. And Thompson doesn’t just provide that space while standing beyond the three-point line. When he moves, he forces the defense to react, which indirectly creates scoring opportunities for teammates.
The threat Thompson represents causes opponents to make baffling mistakes or leave someone else open just to prevent him from getting the ball. That type of impact is impossible to measure with individual stats, but when he is on the bench the Warriors’ true shooting percentage plummets by more than eight points. Without Thompson’s mere presence, Golden State has a much harder time getting good looks.
Thompson doesn’t get many assists and likely never will as long as Curry and Green are around, but he essentially is aiding a teammate to score by just being there. He might not be delivering the pass, but he’s the one who gets them open.
Thompson is choosing the team over his numbers
Thompson is a star by some typical definitions. He averages 21 points, four rebounds and two assists per game while playing terrific defense. Yet after breaking out in 2014-15, his numbers are down and Green has passed him as the second star on the team. There’s a case to be made that Thompson took a step back in his development.
In reality, he has simply adjusted his game to better suit his teammates. Since there’s no need for a typical shot creator with Curry and Green around, he’s adapted on the fly to become deadlier while playing most of the time off the ball. He zips around the court looking for weaknesses to attack and is happy to be a decoy as long as his movement results in open shots for others.
There are some night when he’ll drop 45 and others when he’ll fall short of his average, but his impact is the same nonetheless.
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