The further heart-warming aspect from Klay Thompson’s 50-piece against the Hawks

Klay Thompson produced a signature performance for the Golden State Warriors on Monday night, scoring 54 points to lift his team to an incredible 143-141 double overtime win over the Atlanta Hawks at Chase Center.

The 32-year-old’s 50-piece comfortably surpassed his previous-best scoring outputs since returning from two major injuries nearly 12 months ago. Thompson had scored 41 points on three separate occasions, but there was a special aspect to Monday’s game that added to his 54-point explosion.

While he would have been disappointed with the result, Atlanta Hawks’ legend Dominique Wilkins must have taken some pleasure from Klay Thompson’s 54 points for the Golden State Warriors on Monday.

Wilkins and Thompson are two of the most high-profile NBA players to suffer an achilles tendon tear during their career. Now the Vice President of Basketball Operations, and a TV analyst for the Hawks’ broadcast, Wilkins tore his achilles as a 32-year-old in January 1992.

The Hall-of-Famer was in attendance at Chase Center on Monday, and following his 54-point outburst, Thompson revealed the pair spoke in the lead-up to the game.

"“Just seeing Dominique Wilkins before the game, talking to him, telling him how much of an inspiration he was to me coming back from an achilles tear…That inspired me to be myself and 54 points is nothing to slouch at…There were some hard days for me when I didn’t know this would be possible, to live it in real time, I’m just going to embrace the heck out of it.”"

While Wilkins would have been disappointed with the final result as the Warriors edged the Hawks in a titanic struggle, watching Thompson, a man he inspired having gone through the same injury, must have brought some sense of positive emotion.

After a highly-publicised slow start to the season, Thompson has now began to hit his straps with some important performances in the absence of fellow splash-brother Stephen Curry. The four-time NBA champion has scored at least 24 points in each of the four games he’s played on this homestand, and is averaging over 32 points across his last seven games at Chase Center.

Quite remarkably, Thompson is again averaging over 20 points for the season, and if that maintains, it will be seven straight seasons in which he’s done so. Monday also marked his most minutes played in a single game since returning, totalling nearly 46 in the enthralling contest. Golden State will be hoping Thompson still has plenty left to give as they ride a five-game winning streak amid this eight-game homestand.