Klay Thompson simply killed OKC in Chesapeake Energy Arena Saturday night. Klay’s performance exceeded what we’ve seen this season from the red dragon.
Klay Thompson…red dragon? What does the Golden State Warriors shooting guard have to do with dragons?
I understand the confusion.
But, Saturday I spend the evening with my son watching the Michael Mann classic – “Manhunter”.
The novel by Thomas Harris is quite as scary as the movie, and so was Klay later that evening against the Thunder.
Watching the game, I immediately felt a strong connection between the movie villain and the player. Klay was feared in Oklahoma by all 15 players on the Thunder roster, and it showed that the ultimate victim would be Russell Westbrook.
In a way, it felt like he, the red dragon, had decided to step away from the main plot and play basketball for a couple of hours. The performance of Klay Thompson was ferocious.
The description of the killer in the book is pretty much identical with the season of Klay Thompson.
“Before his Becoming, he would not have dared any of this. Now he realized he could do anything. Anything. Anything.”
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Klay was awful for a couple of months. And immediately we tend to forget how great he really is. He has always been a slow starter, but for the long run now, he has been truly great.
The last few games, he’s been extraordinary!
Klay was all over the Chesapeake Energy Arena Saturday night, and he was performing on both ends of the floor.
Klay shut down the Thunder’s motor, guard Russell Westbrook, and by doing short-circuited a lot of production from other players.
Russ was 2-for-16 from the field and 0-for-7 behind the arc. Three of his seven points were made from the free-throw line.
He made his first layup with 8:31 left of the third quarter, a rarity for the superstar guard.
It all ended with a reaction when Westbrook shoved Klay and received the technical foul that’ll lead to his one-game suspension.
Again the movie I saw earlier entered my mind. The Thompson/Westbrook incident reminded me of the scene where the Tattler reporter Freddy Lounds encounters with the killer. He ends up in a wheelchair and in flames.
“He saw the fireball coming, bouncing on the potholes, trailing smoke and sparks and the flames blown back like wings, disjointed reflections leaping along the shop windows. It veered, struck a parked car and overturned in front of the building, one wheel spinning and flames through the spokes, blazing arms rising in the fighting posture of the burned.”
Metaphorically, Westbrook is Freddy Lounds, and Klay Thompson burned him badly on Saturday night. Warriors burned the entire OKC team!
They were held to 32% from the field, 31% from three and only 56% from the line.
Killer Klay seems ready for playoffs, but he saves himself a little bit for the fiery arenas. We can’t expect this from him every time. He may have a quiet night next game.
But, when we get to see the red dragon, there is nothing more dangerous!