Klay Thompson: The Real Star?

The Golden State Warriors crushed the Indiana Pacers on Monday night behind Klay Thompson’s 60-point game. Often overlooked, Klay Thompson poured in 60 points in a 142-106 home-court romp. The story entering the season was that Stephen Curry, the NBA’s unanimous most valuable player last season, along with Kevin Durant, the team’s star off-season acquisition, would create an unsurpassable one-two punch for the Warriors. Thompson was ignored a bit, who last season ranked second in the NBA to Curry in 3-pointers, and was ranked 10th in points scored. On Monday night, however, Thompson went 8 for 14 from 3-point range and 21 for 33 on 2-point shots, all in 29 minutes. Thompson started his big run with mostly makeable shots: 14 of his 17 points in the first quarter came on 2-pointers. Only then did he open up with the 3-pointers. Still, to amass 60 points in 29 minutes is beyond incredible.

If Thompson had played the whole game, he would have definitely come close to Wilt Chamberlain’s 100-point game. In Wilt’s game, he scored 2.08 points per minute in his 48 minutes. Thompson averaged 2.07 points per minute in his 29 minutes. The numbers don’t lie. The only reason why Thompson didn’t stay for 50+ minutes is because the Warriors have four road games starting Wednesday, so Head Coach Steve Kerr wanted to keep him rested for those games. Not only does this stunning performance add to Klay’s reputation, but it also adds to the Warrior’s reputation. The Warriors now have multiple 60-point games in franchise history. That’s more than twice as many as the team with the next-most, the Lakers. Thompson, Rick Barry and Joe Fulks have the other three. The real question is, who is the star of the team?

Photo: http://www.knbr.com/2016/01/15/kobe-bryant-played-key-role-in-klay-thompsons-development/