Steve Kerr spoke to the media after the Warriors’ 99-82 loss to the Mavericks about the team’s worst shooting night of the season, Steph Curry’s slump, and how Klay Thompson’s return will boost the offense.
When the Warriors acquired Kelly Oubre Jr. in November 2020, they had hoped they would get consistent 3-point shooting from him to help fill the void left by Klay Thompson, who had just torn his right Achilles and would miss the 2020-21 NBA season.
After all Oubre was coming off a season with the Phoenix Suns in which he shot a career-high 35 percent from 3-point range.
The Warriors didn't get that from Oubre and after one season in the Bay Area, he bolted for the Charlotte Hornets, where he received a two-year contract worth more than $26 million.
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While Oubre's lone season with the Warriors didn't go well, he has been a revelation for the Hornets. He entered Wednesday night averaging a career high 2.6 made 3-pointers per game on a career-high 36.7 percent from deep.
And his performance in the Hornets' win over the Detroit Pistons is exactly what the Warriors were hoping they would have gotten from him last year.
After scoring just eight points through the first three quarters, Oubre caught fire in the fourth quarter as he hit eight 3-pointers in just under eight minutes of action.
Oubre's eight 3-pointers in the quarter is one shy of Klay Thompson's all-time record of nine during his 37-point quarter against the Kings on Jan. 23, 2015.
When Oubre was told about what he accomplished in the fourth quarter, the look on his face said it all. He was shocked by his performance.
Oubre finished with a career-high nine 3-pointers and scored 32 points in the Hornets' win.
Oubre's only season with the Warriors got off to a historically bad shooting stretch from 3-point range as he made 2 of his first 30 shots from beyond the arc. But he picked things up as the season went along, and on Feb. 2, he made a season-high seven 3-pointers in the Warriors' win over the Dallas Mavericks.
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The Warriors could have used more performances from Oubre like the one he put together on Wednesday. But at least for Thompson, his record for 3-pointers in a quarter is safe for another day.
