Golden State Warriors: Klay Thompson must be better in Game 2

Five-time All-Star shooting guard Klay Thompson is one of many Golden State Warriors that must be more efficient in Game 2.

If the Golden State Warriors are going to win without Kevin Durant, they need more from arguably the second-best shooter of all-time, Klay Thompson. While he didn’t have a horrible Game 1, the Dubs need more, and they’ll likely get it.

Thompson scored 21 points, within a point of his season average. That said, he wasn’t a ghost like some other Warriors were in Game 1, but given how he’s played recently and the shots he missed, the Warriors and their dedicated fanbase expected more.

Thompson was 8-for-17 from the field and 3-for-6 from deep. Aside from that, he totaled just one assist and went without a steal or block. Add in two turnovers, and this wasn’t one of Thompson’s more impactful performances.

Not an elite playmaking option for his teammates, Klay typically looks to score with the ball in his hands, so seeing just one assist isn’t the concerning part of this game. The concerning part is just six attempts from deep and a mere 17 overall.

Klay is the team’s second option on offense. He must be more involved and be a more impactful option for Golden State.

That said, almost half of Thompson’s field goals were within six seconds of the shot clock beginning. Meaning, a good amount of his attempts were on fast break opportunities. He made four of these. Aside from these leak outs, the Raptors defended Thompson very well.

With a defender on him, assuming he’s guarded very tight or tight, Thompson shot just 5-for-12. Thompson shot 12 of his 17 shots while being tightly guarded. That’s because Iguodala and Green shot six open or wide-open threes and missed them all.

Thompson must be better but so must Green and Iguodala. That said, there are no excuses for Thompson. He must get involved more. When Thompson shoots 18 or more times, the Warriors have been 8-1 this postseason.

That’s one of the more telling stats. It’s not just one more shot from Thompson that would’ve mattered, but his mindset and play throughout the game. The Warriors are win by an average of nine in games, they’ve won all three, when Thompson has 20+ shots.

He’s a huge and important part of this offense, and his involvement is of paramount importance. It’s more to be involved in the actual offense. He had just 11 attempts with under 16 seconds on the shot clock. As aforementioned, that means he didn’t get many in-the-offense attempts.

In Game 2, that must change. For Thompson, he must be better, he must be more involved, and he must take command of this offense.