Klay Thompson went off for 41 points in the Golden State Warriors' season-opening win against the L.A. Lakers on Saturday night. How did he do it? BBallBreakdown gives a shot-by-shot breakdown of his career night, giving great context to how a great scorer and bad defense lead to mismatches.
The video does a great job emphasizing how bad the Lakers defense was, however we can't overlook how good the Warriors are starting to look in the new Kerr-led Triangle offense. Klay has solidified himself in this early season as a more mature complete compliment to Stephen Curry and the rest of the Warriors offense. He has fed off the motion offense to continually get open looks, wide open shots, and more trips to the line. We are no longer seeing the timid jump shooter who settles for fadeaways, but starting to see a mature scorer who takes advantage of weaker defenders and great team spacing to carve up defensive schemes and create mismatches.
It should also be acknowledged that Klay has worked on his ability to create contact and get to the line. Taking notes from James Harden and other rim crashers, he is creating offense at the charity stripe and putting pressure on teams to give him more space. Saturday night was a fantastic preview for what fans can hope to expect, as well as starting to live up to the expectations that a new season and new contract can create.
For more on this game, check out our Warriors vs. Lakers storystream.