Game 6 Klay Thompson? The Warriors need him to face the Lakers on Friday

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By Webdesk



The Golden State Warriors settled things in Game 5 to extend their second-round playoff series against the Los Angeles Lakers. Stephen Curry, Andrew Wiggins and Draymond Green each scored at least 20 points, and the Warriors shot 51.1% from the field to beat the Lakers 121-106 on Wednesday to avoid elimination.

It sets up Game 6 in Los Angeles on Friday night, where the Warriors must win again to stay alive in the postseason. It’s a tall order, especially since only 13 teams in NBA history have overcome a 3-1 postseason deficit. Golden State has been on both ends, blowing a lead and storming back to win a series, both of which happened in the same season.

Ironically, the man who could be the key to winning Warriors Game 6 against the Lakers and taking another step in overcoming this current 3-1 deficit is the same man who helped them make it the first time in 2016 To Do: Klay Thompson.

The reasoning behind it isn’t clear, but the reality is that Thompson has a penchant for going completely bonkers in Game 6s in the playoffs. It began in the 2016 postseason, as Thompson and the Warriors attempted to come back from a 3-1 deficit against the Oklahoma City Thunder in the Western Conference Finals. In Game 6 with Golden State down 3-2 in the series, Thompson dropped 41 points in 40 minutes, going 11-of-18 from deep. The Warriors ended up winning the series. He had a similar nuclear performance in 2018 against the Houston Rockets in the Western Conference Finals. Thompson recorded 35 points on 13-of-23 shooting from the field to help the Warriors tie the series at three games apiece before eventually advancing to the NBA Finals and winning another title.

After missing two seasons due to serious injuries, Thompson returned last season to do it again in the second round of the playoffs against the Memphis Grizzlies. His 30 points on 50% of the field in Game 6 saw the Grizzlies battle it out and the Warriors win, you guessed it, another championship.

But unlike most of those earlier instances, the Warriors are in despair for a vintage Game 6 Klay performance. It’s no longer just a fun nickname for its name, Golden State needs Thompson to show up for Game 6 better than he has in the previous three meetings of this series. In the last three games, Thompson has totaled 15, 9 and 10 points while shooting a combined 29.7% from the field and 33.3% from depth. Aside from Golden State’s Game 2 victory in which Thompson totaled 30 points on 61% of the field, he shot the ball incredibly poorly, which is a major reason why Golden State is currently in this predicament.

Part of that is due to LA’s defense. The Lakers have more skilled defenders than the Kings in the first round, holding up to Thompson pretty well as he gets past all those off-ball screens to launch shots. As a result, 26.3% of Thompson’s three-pointers in this series came within 2–4 feet of a defenseman. On those shots, he shoots only 33.3% from deep. He shot 45.2% from deep in the first round against Sacramento with a defender within 2-4 feet of him, so you could say his poor performance is a little bit LA defense and a bit of a bad streak of shots.

If it’s a bad shooting streak, the Warriors should hope that ends Friday night, as relying on Green to replicate his Game 5 performance is a bit of a stretch. The good news is that when Thompson went off in a Game 6 against the Grizzlies last season, it came after shooting 38.1% from the field and 29.3% from deep in the first five games of that series. If Thompson follows that same trend, he could have a big outing in Game 6 and add another chapter to the Game 6 Klay legend. At least that’s what Golden State hopes will happen.





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