Golden State Warriors' Klay Thompson (11) scores a 3-point basket against Los Angeles Lakers' Anthony Davis (3) in the second quarter of Game 2 of the NBA basketball Western Conference semifinal playoff series at the Chase Center in San Francisco, Calif., on Thursday, May 4, 2023. (Nhat V. Meyer/Bay Area News Group)
SAN FRANCISCO — Klay Thompson started shuffling backwards before his shot fell Thursday night.
He knew it was on the money.
As quickly as the ball swished through the net, Lakers coach Darvin Ham signaled for timeout to try to stop the bleeding. But it was far too late.
Thompson was in the zone, with that shot being his seventh 3-pointer of the night. The Warriors sharpshooter swaggered back to his team’s bench in a state of euphoria after his bucket put the Warriors up 18 in the third quarter.
“I’m the one!” He exclaimed.
Thompson was due for a big game, and he delivered one of his best performances of this postseason Thursday night in the Warriors’ 127-100 win over the Los Angeles Lakers.
Thompson’s 30-point effort helped the Warriors even the Western Conference semifinals series before it moved to Los Angeles for Games 3 and 4.
After a subpar Game 1 on Tuesday, Thompson was determined to make this right.
“He was really pissed off with our performance… from the other day and coming into today, he was dialed in,” said Draymond Green, who also bounced back from a rough series opener, recording 11 points, 11 rebounds and nine assists. “When he’s getting great looks like that, we know he’s one of the best shooters to ever play this game.
“He found and got to the spots that he wanted to get to and he was huge for us.”
Thompson opened the floodgates in the second quarter, scoring 14 points and making four 3s, to help put the Warriors back into the driver seat of Game 2. They cruised to a victory from there on out, thumping the Lakers by 27 points. He carried his hot hand into the third quarter, where he recorded another 11 points.
Near the 7:48 mark, after drilling another shot from 3-point land, Thompson felt like he was floating on cloud nine.
“Those are the moments when you feel like you’re just clicking when your game is just effortless,” he said.
Thompson helped carry the offense, while Stephen Curry ran it. Curry dished out 12 assists, the most he’s had in the playoffs under Steve Kerr, and had 20 points.
“It was a point of emphasis of trying to get the ball in my hands a little bit more to start but the rest of it is just kind of read and react, taking what’s there,” Curry said.
The Lakers might have outscored the Warriors by seven in the first quarter, but Golden State went on to outrun its Southern California rivals 101-67 over the final three stanzas.
The Warriors prevented the Lakers from getting into any offensive rhythm. LeBron James, who had 14 points on 6 of 8 shooting in the first quarter, cooled off as the game went on. He led the Lakers with 23 points.
Meanwhile, Anthony Davis was basically a non-factor in Game 2 after he blitzed the Warriors for 30 points and had 23 rebounds in the series opener two nights prior.
Golden State locked up the LA big man, limiting him to 11 points on 5 of 11 shooting. Green, who was “disgusted” after going back and watching his Game 1 tape, played a big role in hounding Davis.
“Draymond was amazing tonight,” Curry said. “I’ve got a lot of faith in Draymond being able to show up the way he did tonight and the rest of the series, whether he’s on the majority of the minutes or whatever he’s asked to do. He’s a champ and he’s proven his ability to do that over and over and over again.”
After splitting the first two games of the best-of-seven series, Curry said there was a sense of relief now with the series shifting to Los Angeles.
“Going down 0-2 after playing two home games like that would have been a horrible situation at the end,” Curry said. “When you have a bounce back game like we had tonight and to win as decisively as we did, knowing it’s going to be a whole lot tougher in Game 3 in LA, it’s a big morale boost to give yourself life and belief that our game can carry on the road.”
There’s perhaps no one more excited for the next two games than Thompson, who grew up going to what was previously known as Staples Center to watch his father play in Lakers threads and dreamt of this opportunity to play there.
“I don’t lose sight of that perspective of how great this opportunity is, and I’m just excited to do it in a building where all my hoop dreams came about,” Thompson said. “I’m a huge Kobe [Bryant] fan, he’s my biggest inspiration and I’m going to play my hardest only to honor him and Gigi because without his play and me viewing him on the court, I would not be the athlete I am today.”
