Klay Thompson gets red hot from three in Warriors win over Kings
Golden State Warriors' Klay Thompson lights up from beyond the arc,
scoring seven threes in win against Sacramento Kings
>SAN FRANCISCO, CALIFORNIA – FEBRUARY 3: Golden State Warriors’ Klay
Thompson (11) celebrates against Sacramento Kings in the second quarter
at the Chase Center in San Francisco, Calif., on Thursday, Feb. 3, 2022.
(Shae Hammond/Bay Area News Group)
>SAN FRANCISCO, CALIFORNIA – FEBRUARY 3: Golden State Warriors’ Klay
Thompson (11) celebrates against Sacramento Kings in the second quarter
at the Chase Center in San Francisco, Calif., on Thursday, Feb. 3, 2022.
(Shae Hammond/Bay Area News Group)
By SHAYNA RUBIN | srubin@bayareanewsgroup.com | Bay Area News Group
PUBLISHED: February 3, 2022 at 9:19 p.m. | UPDATED: February 4, 2022 at
8:21 a.m.
https://www.eastbaytimes.com/2022/02/03/klay-thompson-gets-red-hot-from-three-warriors-beat-kings-handily/

SAN FRANCISCO — Klay Thompson has played some of his best games against
the Sacramento Kings. A visit from his favorite foe was welcome for a
three-point maestro just getting into his rhythm.

Thompson found his hot hand early in a three-point frenzy that set the
tone for the Warriors’ 126-114 win against the Kings — playing without
star De’Aaron Fox — on Thursday. The Warriors have won eight straight, a
season-long streak, moving to 40-13.

Thompson hit his season-high for three pointers made by the eighth
minute of the second quarter, at that point 6-for-6 from three. He
finished the half with 20 points in 14 minutes on 7-9 shooting, 6-8 from
three.

Each three-pointer had character.

Some Thompson pulled up for three off the dribble — a clear sign he’s
feeling his shot. His sixth three-pointer? Shot off balance in the left
corner on a flicked pass from Steph Curry in transition. Two of them off
a contested cross-court hurl from Curry with the quickest release. Easy
and difficult, just the kind of shots the backcourt duo normalized.

“You get it to him however you can, as quick as you can,” Curry said.

What constitutes a bad shot for Thompson?

“Getting blocked. That’s about it,” Curry said.

Thompson rewarded the electric crowd with some celebrations. Some were
new — a couple snarls at the sideline. Some were premature — after his
final three-pointer, Thompson rushed to the baseline to celebrate with
the crowd with the game still going. Lucky for him, Kings interim coach
Alvin Gentry called a timeout.

He can get away with that one premature celebration, he’s waited long
enough to experience the adrenaline again.

“That felt so dang good. And with everything I’ve been through, I just
really appreciate nights like this,” Thompson said. “The shooting part
is so much fun and when you see hard work paying off it just hits
different now than a few years ago. be happy. It could be so fragile
doing what we do, and it could be taken away from you in an instant.”

Limited to 24 minutes to manage his surgically repaired ACL and
achilles, Thompson finished with 23 points. But another number on his
stat sheet stood out.

“I thought he was fantastic tonight,” coach Steve Kerr said. “It wasn’t
just the shooting, he had seven assists.”

With his hot hand, Thompson distributed the dough. It’s been a new look
for Thompson, who didn’t see floors this spaced when he last played in
2019 — when sustained his ACL injury in the NBA Finals. Thompson is
adjusting to look for the pass more than in years past.

>SAN FRANCISCO, CALIFORNIA – FEBRUARY 3: Golden State Warriors’ Klay
Thompson (11) dribbles against the Sacramento Kings in the third quarter
at the Chase Center in San Francisco, Calif., on Thursday, Feb. 3, 2022.
(Nhat V. Meyer/Bay Area News Group)

“They know he’s back, especially when he makes a couple shots early,
he’s going to get a lot of attention,” Curry said, adding he’s going by
the team’s “five-point basketball” that commands quick decisions,
driving and kicking. “I know that’s one of the bigger adjustments,
trying to be patient to find his flow and not force things early and
take what the defense gives him.”

His best pass of the night: a pinpoint pass in transition to Jonathan
Kuminga, who flipped for a dunk contest-worthy reverse slam.

Thompson followed that up with his seventh three pointer of the game in
transition. Kuminga finished with 18 points, still lamenting the
transition three he took, and missed, during Thompson’s hot streak. The
19-year-old is still learning how to feed the hot hand, while also
maintaining his confidence to shoot.

“Coach always says ‘be confident,” Kuminga said. “I know I missed it,
but if I made it, they weren’t going to say a lot. But I missed that
one. Klay was 3-for-3, so the blame was on me. I have to make sure every
time I see him coming off the screen and set that pin-down and get him
open. Just trying to do my best, but he wasn’t mad about it.”

Curry’s night, with a little nose bleed

Late in the fourth quarter, Kings’ Buddy Hield hit Curry in the nose,
making it bleed and sending him to the bench for the rest of the fourth
quarter in what had become a blowout. Curry said he was fine.

“You should see Buddy’s arm, took the worst of it,” Curry joked.

Curry finished with 20 points shooting 4-of-7 from three in 32 minutes
with seven assists of his own.

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- Defensive undoings

Kevon Looney chipped in 10 points with seven rebounds, playing 21
minutes and getting a little much-needed rest in the fourth quarter of a
blowout.

Despite Looney’s consistency, Draymond Green’s loss is felt defensively.
The Kings shot 52% from the field and on Tuesday the San Antonio Spurs
penetrated the perimeter defense with ease, shooting 55% from the field.

The Warriors will use some of the next three off days to shore up their
Green-less defensive effort.

“It’s a different game right now for us without Draymond,” head coach
Steve Kerr said. “Our defense clearly isn’t as good. The last two nights
our opponents have shot over 50%. We have long stretches where our
defense fails us, but we have floor spacing…You got to be able to get
stops consistently to be really good.”

>SAN FRANCISCO, CALIFORNIA – FEBRUARY 3: Golden State Warriors’ Damion
Lee (1) passes the ball against the Sacramento Kings in the second
quarter at the Chase Center in San Francisco, Calif., on Thursday, Feb.
3, 2022. (Shae Hammond/Bay Area News Group)

>SAN FRANCISCO, CALIFORNIA – FEBRUARY 3: Golden State Warriors’ Stephen
Curry (30) scores a 3-point basket against the Sacramento Kings in the
first quarter at the Chase Center in San Francisco, Calif., on Thursday,
Feb. 3, 2022. (Nhat V. Meyer/Bay Area News Group)

>SAN FRANCISCO, CALIFORNIA – FEBRUARY 3: Golden State Warriors’ Stephen
Curry (30) dribbles the ball against Sacramento Kings’ Davion Mitchell
(15) in the third quarter at the Chase Center in San Francisco, Calif.,
on Thursday, Feb. 3, 2022. (Shae Hammond/Bay Area News Group)

>SAN FRANCISCO, CALIFORNIA – FEBRUARY 3: Golden State Warriors’ Kevon
Looney (5) dunks the ball against Sacramento Kings’ Damian Jones (30) in
the second quarter at the Chase Center in San Francisco, Calif., on
Thursday, Feb. 3, 2022. (Shae Hammond/Bay Area News Group)

>SAN FRANCISCO, CALIFORNIA – FEBRUARY 3: Golden State Warriors’ Damion
Lee (1) takes a 3-point shot against Sacramento Kings in the second
quarter at the Chase Center in San Francisco, Calif., on Thursday, Feb.
3, 2022. (Nhat V. Meyer/Bay Area News Group)

>SAN FRANCISCO, CALIFORNIA – FEBRUARY 3: Actor Anthony Mackie sits in
his court side seats during the Golden State Warriors game against the
Sacramento Kings in the first quarter at the Chase Center in San
Francisco, Calif., on Thursday, Feb. 3, 2022. (Nhat V. Meyer/Bay Area
News Group)

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Shayna Rubin | Oakland Athletics reporter