After Stephen Curry and Draymond Green ruined his homecoming to Chase Center last month, Klay Thompson has exacted revenge in succumbing the Golden State Warriors to their eighth loss in 10 games.
Thompson had a season-high 29 points in an offensive-fuelled game at Chase Center on Sunday night, helping the Mavericks to a 143-133 victory over their conference rival. The former Warrior guard had 12 of his points in the fourth-quarter, finishing 7-of-11 from beyond the arc as the two teams set a record for most combined threes in NBA history.
The Warriors fourth-ranked defense failed to show up on Sunday
Golden State's 18 first-half threes equalled an NBA record, but they still found themselves down eight as Luka Doncic completely picked them apart with 28 points and a near triple-double over the first 24 minutes.
The Warriors battled back from multiple double-digit deficits to give themselves a chance, including pulling to within five with just under three minutes remaining. But as has been a common theme over the last few weeks, Golden State failed to score from then on as Thompson put the finishing touches on his best performance of the season.
Dallas had gone for 46 points in the opening period and had 81 points by the end of the first-half, ultimately finishing the game shooting a scorching 59.8% from the floor and 51.2% from 3-point range. Doncic finished with a mammoth 45 points, 11 rebounds and 13 assists on 16-of-23 shooting, while Kyrie Irving chipped in with 21 points.
Golden State's 27 made threes were an NBA record for a losing team, having nailed exactly 50% of them thanks to 17 combined from Stephen Curry (seven), Andrew Wiggins (five) and Draymond Green (five).
The Warriors hit 27 3s tonight, the most ever in a loss. Teams were previously 11-0 when making 27+.
— Bobby Karalla (@bobbykaralla) December 16, 2024
It was nice that the Warriors found an offensive groove after so many struggles over the past nine games, but it was equally a poor time for their fourth-ranked defense to no-show as they slide further down the West standings.
Wiggins had 29 points, three rebounds and four assists on 11-of-20 shooting in his return from a short absence, while Curry had 26 points, five rebounds and 10 assists on 9-of-19 shooting. Green and Jonathan Kuminga also reached 20 points, with the latter having started over the former in another controversial ploy from Steve Kerr.
The Warriors will be desperately hoping that the addition of Dennis Schroder can help turnaround their fortunes, with the veteran guard set to make his team debut when Golden State travels to Memphis to play the Grizzlies on Thursday.