Return of Klay Thompson makes Warriors bonafide contenders

The stage was perfect for the much-awaited Klay Thompson comeback. And he didn’t disappoint the Golden State Warriors‘ crowd that cheered and gave him thunderous ovations each time he had the ball in his hands.

In his first game for the Warriors after the 941 days of recovery and prep following the disastrous injury, Klay Thompson, the man who was the cynosure of all eyes at the Chase Center and NBA fans across the world didn’t disappoint.

He ended with 17 points that came from 7-of-18 shooting, including 3 of 8 from 3. All that in 19 minutes as Golden State trounced the Cleveland Cavaliers 96-82. He also unlocked some achievements on his return, passing 12,000 points and 1,800 made 3s for his career.

There was a monster dunk, the smooth action that unfurled some glorious 3s and speed — encouraging signs that all the patient conditioning had paid off.

Now that’s about Klay Thompson, Mr offensive. He’s bound to get better. He’s likely to shoot better, and those percentage of big buckets will eventually be tested and improve over the course of the season.

Plus, there’s enough breathing space for Thompson to not rush into form. The Warriors are now 30-9 (Note they won just 39 games in the previous season that had 72 regular games).

Even if Thompson had an off day, it wouldn’t have mattered really. He’s been off the hardwood and he’s warming up by the game. The team has elite shooters in Stephen Curry and Jordan Poole, who are ably assisted by a bench that has shown remarkable consistency over the last 39 games.

The Golden Stae Warriors now go from title contenders to bonafide title contenders — partly because of Klay Thompson and his encouraging return.

And there’s another aspect to his game: The defense.

There’s no doubt that his defense will be rusty for the next couple of games. The offensive rhythm may have been present, but his blocking ability has been one of the bedrocks of his success.

Honestly, the Warriors don’t really need the defense of the old Thompson. They have some solid players on their roster who can do justice. Andrew Wiggins and Gary Payton II are more than capable, while Juan Toscano-Anderson and Andre Igoudala can come off the bench and make an immediate defensive impact.

One of the highlights of the Dubs basketball season is the impressive defense. Stephen Curry showed he could be one of the walls and that would mean there’s less burden on Thompson as the remaining players, not to forget Draymond Green can play their roles to perfection.

The good news for the Warriors and Klay Thompson is the fact that he still has a long career, and in this case, a good 40 games to fine-tune that great instinct he has on defense. Agreed he may have some trouble with some quick guards in Kyrie Irving, Ja Morant, and Jalen Green to name a few, but his height and wingspan can make life difficult even for some of the NBA’s Barry Allens.

Thompson is definitely an upgrade over players like Poole and he will play his part even though Green and GP II will shoulder much of the load.

With a good chunk of games to regain his defense, what Klay does is just increase the chances of the Warriors breezing through to the playoffs and further. Should he and his splash brother stay healthy, this just might be the season that sees a player and a franchise make a dream comeback.