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This is a tough one to swallow. What are you supposed to say when your secondary scoring option gets injured in the waning moments of a game that he should not have even been playing in, on a night in which his first half performance has people forecasting him breaking decade-long records?
Klay Thompson left the game after appearing to sprain his ankle as he landed on another player's foot trying to contest a shot in the paint. He initially (and instantly) sat on the bench, as the Warrior medical staff examined his right ankle. He left for the locker room under his own power not long after that.
Golden State of Mind will continue to update you as more news comes out.
Warriors' Klay Thompson suffers apparent ankle injury in Indiana https://t.co/wqwJ4M6gM8 pic.twitter.com/9nLQ9hoN5t
— CBS Sports NBA (@CBSSportsNBA) December 9, 2015
Gut reaction? Much less severe than Harrison Barnes' high-ankle sprain. It seemed to be a common sprain, as the initial burst of pain subsided within minutes and Klay was able to put weight on it as he walked to the locker room.
More gut reactions? Klay Thompson's right ankle is collateral damage for one of the most horrendous stretch of bench play the Warriors have seen in the Kerr age. Luke Walton, for all his faults, has every right to expect Andre Iguodala, Shaun Livingston, and three other NBA-sized bodies to sustain a 28 point lead for 12 minutes. You don't even have to play them close to even, you can have a -12 differential for the quarter. You can be -18 and comfortably coast to a double digit win.
You're not allowed to be -12 in 6 minutes of action. To those that want to credit Indiana, I'm fine with that up to the point of saying that they hit their three point shots. But bad defense facilitates higher shooting percentages. The Warriors bench gave up three point looks as if there was 18 seconds left in the game and opponent players were just trying to pad their stats.
That's not good enough defense. That's not good enough mental toughness. This is a bench that is generally stable. This is still a bench that will hold a lot of leads for the remainder of the season, and will probably help spark a Warriors run a few times when the adrenaline-fueled starters can't get the engine to turn over. There are no truths we learned tonight that we did not already know. But tonight, the bench really dropped the ball. Into their own basket.
Get well soon, Klay.