After pulling up from 26 feet and swinging his arms up to launch his shot, Klay Thompson barely bothered to wait for the outcome. He knew. The Warriors knew. The Lakers knew. Everybody inside Chase Center knew. They’ve seen it before.
By the time the ball swished through the net, giving Thompson the seventh of his eight 3-pointers, he was in full exhilaration, jumping, skipping, gesturing, thumping his chest, and screaming into the ear-splitting pandemonium initiated by his spectacular shooting display
Thompson’s shouts could not be heard, and he could not have cared less.
He had waited 12 years to feel this generous slice of the dream incubating in his mind since 2011, and it came to life Thursday night in a 127-100 rout of the Lakers in Game 2 of the Western Conference semifinals.
“Sometimes when are out there and you’re having fun, things just come about without intention or thought,” Thompson said. “I think I was saying something along the lines … probably a few cuss words I’m not proud of. But those are the moments I feel the best as an athlete when you feel like you’re just clicking with your game, it’s just effortless.”
This was one victory for the Warriors, tying the best-of-seven series at 1-1 before the location shifts to Los Angeles for Games 3 and 4. For Thompson, it was so much more than that.
Running around screens, cutting hard and stepping into deep shots
Thompson was raining triples on the heads of the team he watched and rooted for as a teenager living with his family in Orange County. And the Lakers seemed powerless.
The eight 3-balls were Thompson’s highest total in a postseason game since last May 26, when he drilled an equal amount in a victory over Dallas to clinch the Western Conference finals.
This was his NBA-record sixth playoff game with at least eight triples.
Thompson’s response to Game 1, in which he scored 25 points but shot only 9-of-25, by delivering his most efficient 30-point playoff game since he scored 30 points on 12 field-goal attempts in Game 6 of the 2019 NBA Finals that ended in nightmarish fashion for him and the Warriors.
“Whatever added fuel to the fire you need for him, whether that’s the matchup itself or the personal history of fandom that he had,” Stephen Curry said. “And now he’s a guy that’s trying to chase a championship. All that stuff matters. We have to find motivation to keep the fuel going. Whatever motivates him, I love it.”
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