Cavaliers vs. Warriors NBA Finals 2017: Klay Thompson bounced back for his best game of the playoffs in Game 2

Kevin Durant had it going. Stephen Curry had it going, too. But it was Klay Thompson who broke a cold streak in Game 2 to help gun the Warriors to a 131-112 NBA Finals victory over the Cleveland Cavaliers on Sunday.

Thompson scored 22 points on 8-of-12 shooting, including four triples to help down the Cavs and take a 2-0 series lead. It was an incredible turnaround for a player who’s shot 36.6 percent for the postseason and had made more than half his shots only once in the playoffs leading up to Game 2.

“It’s always great to see, we’re never worried about him and his shooting or anything, and the spotlight that’s on that,” Curry said of Thompson during his post-game press conference. “I know he didn’t lose confidence in himself at all, and knew he was helping us win even though he wasn’t shooting the ball well. And tonight things turned around in his favor, and hopefully he’s created a little bit of momentum for himself going into Game 3.”

Golden State’s All-Star guard may have averaged 18.8 points against the Portland Trail Blazers in the first round, but he shot the ball at a poor 38.8 percent clip. In the second round against the Utah Jazz, Thompson only averaged 14 points per game, and his tried-and-true three-point shot was only falling at 31.4 percent.

And in the Western Conference Finals against the Spurs, the all-world sniper hit an all-time low. Thompson averaged just 11 points through 4 games against San Antonio. Even worse, he shot 32.7 percent from the field and below 37 percent from behind the arc.

This is the same player who averaged 47 percent field goal shooting and 41.5 percent three-point shooting through the regular season. It was a postseason struggle, though, that was swept under the rug as the Warriors swept through their first three playoff matchups en route to the NBA Finals.

Golden State blasted Cleveland, 113-91, in Game 1 behind two mammoth offensive outbursts from Durant and Curry. But even though Thompson played one of the best defensive games of the postseason, his shooting woes gleamed through the Warriors’ victory.

Thompson finished with only six points on 3-of-16 shooting in Game 1. On the inside, his head was hanging. His team captured a victory — a lopsided one — but in spite of his staunch defensive effort, he wasn’t able to give his team what was missing the first go-round.

It looked like Thompson was off to another nightmarish start. He got out in transition and missed an open three to start the game. But then he grabbed his own rebound and drilled a mid-range shot to send Oracle Arena into a frenzy.

The fans knew how much he needed to see a shot drop. Their sharpshooter finally got a break.

Thompson went on to nail 4 of his next 5 shots, scoring 5 or 6 points in each quarter to finish with 22 on the night. He shot 4-of-7 from downtown with his signature moment coming in the 3rd quarter, when he made Kyrie Irving pay for gambling in the passing lanes by drilling a deep triple that gave the Warriors a 12-point cushion.

After his fourth three-pointer, Thompson passed Danny Green and Mario Chalmers for ninth all-time in triples made in NBA Finals history, according to NBA.com Stats. The Warriors’ perimeter sniper said it was a process for him learning to play alongside two dominant scorers in Curry and Durant after the game.

“I did, especially during the beginning of the year,” Thompson said, when asked if he had to make an adjustment to play with his two former MVPs. “I think it’s an adjustment in the playoffs, as well, because the game shrinks, it’s not as many possessions, it’s not as many shots. So, I’m still learning how to be more efficient with only 12-13 looks a game, which is cool with me ‘cause I’ve got two MVPs on my team in Steph and KD who you can just throw it to any time and they’ll bail you out with easy buckets.

“I’m still getting there, and I’ve still got another level to get to, and I think people have seen that. It was a little adjustment, but I can always control what I do on this side of the floor, which is defense. And I’ll always be able to impact the game if I just stay locked in on that side.”

In Game 1, Durant powered the Warriors with 38 points on 54 percent shooting, while Curry scored 28 points by way of six triples. In Game 2, the duo combined for 65 points behind Curry’s triple double (32 points, 11 assists, 10 rebounds) and Durant’s monstrous defensive effort (5 blocks, 3 steals).

But it was Thompson’s hot shooting that shined through in the Warriors’ victory over the Cavaliers on Sunday. And if Golden State wants to close out on the road in a hostile Cleveland environment, they’ll need their sharpshooting two guard to carry his stroke from Game 2 on the road with him.

The Warriors pounded the Cavaliers in transition in Game 1, and our own NBA editor Mike Prada outlined the best way to take some of those opportunities away:

There are three ways to create a dead ball, and I believe that chucking it out of bounds is the most effective (and coolest) way to do so. Let me explain.

Click that link above, it’s worth your time.

Warriors 132, Cavaliers 113 [Golden State of Mind recap | Fear the Sword recap | SB Nation recap]

Steph Curry: 32 points (7-of-17 shooting, 14-of-14 on free throws), 11 assists, 10 rebounds

Kevin Durant: 33 points (13-of-22 shooting, 4-of-8 on 3s), 13 rebounds, 6 assists, 5 blocks, 3 steals

LeBron James: 29 points (12-of-18 shooting), 14 assists, 11 rebounds, 3 steals

Kevin Love: 27 points (12-of-23 shooting), 7 rebounds, 2 steals

Klay Thompson: 22 points (8-of-12 shooting, 4-of-7 on 3s), 7 rebounds, team-high plus-24