The Dallas Mavericks joined the Golden State Warriors as winners on Thursday's slate of NBA action, overcoming the Portland Trail Blazers 117-111 at American Airlines Center.
Playing without superstar guards Luka Doncic and Kyrie Irving, the Mavericks exploded on a 16-0 run late in the game after trailing 109-99 with less than five minutes remaining.
Klay Thompson's latest benching proves he's a better fit for the Mavericks than Warriors
With Doncic and Irving both on the sidelines injured, you would have thought that Klay Thompson would have been a fundamental piece to Dallas' comeback efforts. Instead, the former Warrior was also watching on from the bench, having not reappeared in the game after subbing out with 6:41 to play.
Thompson played less than 22 minutes in the six-point win, recording just three points on 1-of-6 shooting from the floor including missing all four of his 3-point attempts. Jason Kidd preferred to go to the likes of Spencer Dinwiddie, Quentin Grimes and Jaden Hardy down the stretch, with the latter going for a game-high 25 points on 5-of-9 3-point shooting.
With January historically an excellent month for the 5x All-Star, and with Doncic and Irving having both missed the last four games, Thompson's scoring production was expected to rise compared to his season averages. Instead he's been worse, averaging 11.8 points on 33.3% from the floor and 35.7% from beyond the arc.
Perhaps it's a sign of Thompson's reduction into solid role-player who is best playing off stars, rather than as a go-to scorer himself. Some may argue that's always been the case given his catch-and-shoot skillset, but that's unfair to the 4x champion who's averaged 20 points or more in seven seperate seasons and led the Warriors to countless playoff victories.
Thompson is averaging a career-low 13.8 points so far this season, but is still shooting a healthy 38.1% from 3-point range (even if that's also a career-low). Perhaps playing in a veteran role alongside two offensive superstars in Doncic and Irving is a better fit for Thompson at this point of his career, rather than trying to persist as a 20-point scorer with Golden State as Stephen Curry's sidekick.
If the Warrior legend was still with the franchise, perhaps you'd see more games like Thursday where he has the opportunity but fails to deliver as a more go-to scoring option. Thompson appears comfortable with his decision at this stage, particularly given the win over the Trail Blazers pushes the Mavericks to a 22-16 record and 2.5 games ahead of the Warriors in the Western Conference.