Former Golden State Warriors guard Klay Thompson and the Dallas Mavericks continued their losing start in the wake of the stunning Luka Doncic trade, following up Sunday's 43-point loss to the Cleveland Cavaliers with a 118-116 defeat to the Philadelphia 76ers at Wells Fargo Center on Monday.
While star big man Anthony Davis was on the sidelines and yet to make his Maverick debut, their other key acquisition from the Doncic trade, Max Christie, was in action and had a bright start in positive signs for Dallas fans who are otherwise going through a tumultuous period.
Christie had 15 points, nine rebounds and three assists in 32 minutes off the bench, shooting 5-of-8 from the floor including a perfect 4-of-4 from 3-point range in the Mavericks' two-point loss.
Former Warriors guard Klay Thompson drew a harsh assessment in the second-half
After a two-point, 1-of-10 shooting display in less than 18 minutes against the Cavaliers, Thompson was more productive with 12 points and five rebounds on 4-of-11 shooting in Philadelphia.
That didn't stop Sixers broadcaster Alaa Abdelnaby from delivering a harsh but probably fair assessment of Thompson during the fourth-quarter as both teams battled down the stretch.
"Klay unfortunately looks like a shell of himself from his former Golden State days," Abdelnaby said after a possession in which Thompson missed a pull-up mid-range jump-shot.
As if he had heard that comment, Thompson went on to make back-to-back 3-pointers in a 90-second period shortly after, both of which were go-ahead baskets as the lead changed multiple times before Joel Embiid's final field-goal in the last 25 seconds.
Thompson is averaging 13.4 points and 3.5 rebounds on 38.9% 3-point shooting since joining the Mavericks, having understandably taken a slightly lesser role next to Doncic and Kyrie Irving. It will now be interesting to see how he adjusts to playing alongside a star scoring big in Anthony Davis, having scarcely played with one during his time with Golden State (unless you want to put Kevin Durant into the 'big' category).
The Mavericks and 76ers actually made a trade prior to Tuesday's game, with Dallas sending Quentin Grimes and a second-round pick to Philadelphia for Caleb Martin. More importantly from a Warrior perspective, the Mavericks' loss pushes them back down to 11th spot in the Western Conference standings.
That means Golden State are up to 10th, currently sitting in a 3-way tie with the Sacramento Kings and Phoenix Suns at 25-24 ahead of Wednesday's meeting with the Utah Jazz.