In an alternate universe Klay Thompson and Jordan Poole would still be part of the Golden State Warriors. Instead, the 2022 championship teammates went against each other in Thursday night's NBA action.
Thompson's Dallas Mavericks unsurprisingly came out on top in a 137-101 victory, succumbing Poole's Washington Wizards to their 16th-straight loss that dates back to the start of November.
Klay Thompson hit a post-injury high against former Warriors teammate Jordan Poole
Thursday's matchup was just Thompson's second back from a foot injury that caused a four-game absence. The 34-year-old had been quiet in his return against the Memphis Grizzlies, tallying just four points on 1-of-5 shooting in just over 20 minutes of play.
Thompson found a rhythm of sorts against the Wizards, nailing three of his five 3-point attempts to finish with 11 points on 4-of-9 shooting in 21 minutes. It's far from a notable individual performance from the 5x All-Star, but he did finish as an equal game-high +36 alongside superstar teammate Luka Doncic.
That's Thompson's highest plus-minus since his return from two devastating leg injuries. He was also a +36 in a 2017 playoff game against the Portland Trail Blazers, but the last time he had a better plus-minus was January 16, 2017 in a home game against the Cleveland Cavaliers.
Thompson was a +41 in just over 31 minutes that time around, having scored 26 points on 8-of-17 shooting. He was also a +37 in a game against the Indiana Pacers just over a month prior where Thompson famously went for 60 points on 21-of-33 shooting.
It was a different story for Poole on Thursday who finished as a -21 in his nearly 32 minutes. The 25-year-old also had 11 points, shooting 4-of-14 from the floor and 2-of-8 from 3-point range while adding eight assists and two steals in the blowout loss.
Poole has improved significantly so far this season, with the young guard currently putting 20.0 points, 5.0 assists and 1.8 steals per game on 40.6% shooting from 3-point range. Poole's play is no longer being widely ridiculed as it was early last season, but neither is it gaining too many plaudits given Washington's dismal 2-18 record.
Thompson, on the other hand, continues to be a talking point after being the key offseason addition to a team coming off an NBA Finals appearance. The Golden State legend has failed to deliver so far, with Thompson now averaging 12.6 points on 38.1% shooting from the floor and 36.8% from 3-point range.