Klay Thompson Makes One Last All-Star Push
Klay Thompson‘s 45 point performance in a win against the Dallas Mavericks was his final push as he looks to land a spot in the All-Star Game once again.
On a night where Stephen Curry and Draymond Green struggled to get going for most of the game, it was Klay Thompson who carried the load for the Golden State Warriors.
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Thompson has spent much time this year playing third fiddle behind Curry and Green. He’s struggled with his consistency at times especially early on when he was battling a back injury. His calm demeanor allows him to blend in and, at times, become invisible. It’s hard to think that a guy who’s averaging 20 points per game and has led the team in scoring 11 times this season can be “invisible,” but it happens especially when you play alongside the league’s most entertaining show in Curry.
And just when people start to sleep on the Splash Brother, he attacks.
Conventional wisdom says that when the league’s leading scorer only scores 14 points and the leader in triple-doubles posts a mere 10 points, 3 rebounds, and 4 assists that the team should lose. And that’s where Thompson shows up, to remind everyone that he’s a premier All-Star talent at the shooting guard position.
Thompson scored a cool 45 points on 14-20 shooting. He calmly connected seven times from beyond the arc. Many times throughout the night, he came to the rescue when the rest of his team couldn’t muster any offense. He ended Dallas runs and he jumpstarted Golden State’s.
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Thompson is very aware of the talk around the league. With the (apparent) fall from (the fans’ )grace of the Player’s MVP James Harden, Thompson was overlooked once again for the title of best shooting guard in the league in favor of Chicago’s Jimmy Butler.
He’s also aware that the Western Conference in loaded with talented guards. It was the same thing last year. An All-Star spot was up for grabs and Thompson set an NBA-record 37 points in a quarter and took the spot he deserved. Thompson’s 45 point performance while Curry and Green struggled was an exclamation point in his campaign.
The rest of the rosters are going to be announced tonight on TNT at 4:00 PM PST and Thompson should be one of them. And his 45 point performance is proof that he deserves to be an All-Star alongside his other teammates.