Klay Thompson adds another chapter to ‘Game 6 Klay’ legacy, but this one
‘felt better’
Game 6 Klay: Warriors' Klay Thompson scores 30 points in clincher
against Memphis Grizzlies
>SAN FRANCISCO, CALIFORNIA – MAY 13: Golden State Warriors’ Klay
Thompson (11) gestures to the audience in the fourth quarter of Game 6
of a second-round NBA basketball playoff series at Chase Center in San
Francisco, Calif., on Friday, May 13, 2022. The Golden State Warriors
defeated the Memphis Grizzlies 110-96. (Jose Carlos Fajardo/Bay Area
News Group)
>SAN FRANCISCO, CALIFORNIA – MAY 13: Golden State Warriors’ Klay
Thompson (11) gestures to the audience in the fourth quarter of Game 6
of a second-round NBA basketball playoff series at Chase Center in San
Francisco, Calif., on Friday, May 13, 2022. The Golden State Warriors
defeated the Memphis Grizzlies 110-96. (Jose Carlos Fajardo/Bay Area
News Group)
By SHAYNA RUBIN | srubin@bayareanewsgroup.com | Bay Area News Group
PUBLISHED: May 14, 2022 at 5:30 a.m. | UPDATED: May 14, 2022 at 12:39 p.m.
https://www.eastbaytimes.com/2022/05/14/klay-thompson-adds-another-chapter-to-his-game-6-klay-legacy-but-this-one-felt-better/

SAN FRANCISCO — Less than three minutes remained, and all the Warriors
needed to put the Grizzlies away was one dagger from one of their
prolific scorers. Klay Thompson rose up and hit a 3-pointer, his eighth
of the game, and sent Chase Center into a frenzy.

Thompson ran to the baseline to celebrate with them, holding up five
fingers on one hand and one finger on the other, beating his chest.
“Game 6 Klay” had returned, and Thompson wanted everyone to know it.

Fighting for their playoff lives, the Memphis Grizzlies had answered
every Warriors’ run Friday night. In the final minutes, the Warriors got
a three from Andrew Wiggins, three more from Steph Curry, and a slew of
rebounds from Kevon Looney.

But it was Thompson’s 3-pointer with 2:58 left that stood as the cherry
on top. It increased the Warriors’ lead to 105-92 and capped a 30-point
performance that was the difference between another four-hour flight to
Memphis for Game 7 and a 110-96 clinching victory.

“It’s just something that comes naturally,” Thompson said. “I don’t go
to sleep last night thinking of scoring 30 or shooting the ball well. I
was just thinking about how far I’ve come and how grateful I am to have
another close-out game at Chase Center.”

Thompson’s nickname was born in Game 6 of the 2016 Western Conference
finals when, with the Warriors facing elimination in Oklahoma City. he
scored 41 points on a playoff-record 11 three-pointers to force a
seventh game.

In Game 6 of the Western Conference finals against Houston in 2018, he
scored 35 points. In Game 6 of the NBA Finals in 2019, he scored 30
points, including the two free throws he drained with a torn ACL.

Steph Curry has shared the floor with Thompson for every “Game 6 Klay”
moment — from the highs of the first to the devastation of his last.
After a two-year hiatus, the feeling was the same.

“From the first shot he hit, it was like — this is what he’s been
looking forward to since he got hurt back in the 2019 Finals,” Curry
said. “It’s a different joy. It’s a different energy.”

From the tip, Thompson kept a spark going for an offense struggling to
find its stride. He hit his first 3-pointer on his first attempt, then
his second just a minute later. The Warriors clinging desperately to a
slim lead at half, hope lied in Thompson’s consistency — he had 17
points and five 3-pointers.

The Thompson who pressed in desperate search to get back to where he was
pre-injury seemed relieved of those mental cobwebs, thriving under the
Game 6 pressure like clockwork. For Draymond Green, Thompson’s eight
rebounds and three blocked shots were “Game 6 Klay,” too.

“I tell y’all all the time, one of the toughest guys and most
competitive guys I’ve ever played with — no, probably the toughest and
most competitive player I’ve ever played with, and it showed up
tonight,” Green said.

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For Thompson, this Game 6 moment felt a little different than the
others. All season he has reflected on how two seasons rehabbing two
injuries changed his perspective. Outwardly, he’s more appreciative that
he can put on these otherworldly performances, even if he still can’t
explain them.

“It felt better,” Thompson said of his latest Game 6 moment. “Honestly,
especially the perspective I’ve gained from the injuries I’ve had — to
be able to compete at the highest level and be one of the final four
teams, it’s a feeling that’s hard to describe.

“It’s truly amazing and it just inspires me to keep going because I
think I still have great basketball ahead of me.”

--
Shayna Rubin | Oakland Athletics reporter