SAN FRANCISCO -- Klay Thompson's comeback season has been full of personal milestones. From playing in his first game after waiting 941 days and rehabbing two grueling leg injuries, to ramping up his minutes restriction, his first 20-point game and then his first 30-point game of the year, Thompson has checked plenty of boxes off his to-do list.
He might have saved his best for last in regards to the Warriors' final regular-season home game, giving Dub Nation an idea of what's to come once the playoffs are here.
As the Warriors' offense started slow and stagnant against the Los Angeles Lakers' backup squad, Thompson provided needed points Thursday night at Chase Center. He finished with 33 in the Warriors' eventual win, his second straight 30-plus point game -- the first time he has done so since January of 2019.
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"I thought it was Klay's best game," Steve Kerr said Thursday night after the win. "I know he's scored more, but just in terms of the shot selection. He just had his feet underneath him, his balance was great, his decision-making was really good. A lot of good things happening."
Klay agreed with his coach, noting he felt he was in the flow of the offense the entire time and was especially happy with only committing one turnover in 33 minutes.
Not only was this his second straight game of dropping at least 30 points, and the sixth time he has scored that many in a game against the Lakers, Thompson now has eclipsed the 30-point mark five times in 2022 and four times in the last four weeks.
His latest scoring outbursts have raised his points per game average to 19.7 through 31 games -- just off the magic number. From 2014 through 2019, when Thompson was named an NBA All-Star in five straight seasons, he averaged at least 20 points per game every season, ending right on the mark in his 2017-18 campaign. He'll have one more chance to go from the teens to the twenties this season.
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Since making his return on Jan. 9 earlier this year, Klay hasn't played in both games of a back-to-back. The Warriors' final slate of back-to-backs is exactly how they'll end the regular season, first on Saturday in San Antonio and then Sunday in New Orleans. Kerr typically has played Thompson to open a back-to-back but said Thursday that the plan still is to be determined. Klay and others, like Andre Iguodala and Otto Porter Jr., could split up which game they appear in.
Thompson's first game this season came three days after the Warriors last played the Pelicans. He hasn't suited up against New Orleans yet this year. But he has played vs. the Spurs once this season, scoring 24 points and splashing six 3-pointers in a loss on March 20. So, what does Thompson need to do to hit that 20-point mark for the season?
Klay's new magic number should be 29. If he scores that many points in his final game, whether it be Saturday or Sunday, he'll finish at exactly 20.0 points per game. Putting up 28 would have him decimal points away at 19.96875. Every point counts, and you can bet Klay's well aware of that.
But Kerr and Warriors fans are accustomed to seeing one side of the Splash Brothers score points in bunches and get hot in a hurry. It's how he's now getting those points and finding himself as a steady presence in the offense that has Kerr most excited with Klay's recent performances.
"I thought he took two bad shots the whole game, out of 22," Kerr said. "I thought he took 20 great shots, and he moved the ball on them. When he wasn't open, he just passed it. That's really the key for him.
"He's such a great shooter. If he can take great shots, he's going to make them, he's going to get into a rhythm. Now he's going to be able to make the ones that are challenged."
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January, February and March all are in the past. Klay just might be peaking at the perfect time, and what he's happiest with paints a pretty nice picture of where he is right now and how much he has grown through so much adversity these past few years.
"My confidence is always high," Thompson said. "Even if I don't think that, I'll never admit that because I think words are powerful. What I'm confident in is my movements and my balance out there and just getting to my spots.
"That's what's most important to me: Just not having any hurdles when I perform, mentally, because of the injuries obviously."
