SAN DIEGO – With family and friends from Orange County cheering from the stands, Warriors guard Klay Thompson put on a highly unusual show for Klay Thompson.
The man with the itchy trigger finger, who lives for the long-range bucket, unveiled his inner point guard, ringing up eight assists in 32 minutes Wednesday night in a 123-112 preseason win over the Lakers before 13,669 at Valley View Casino Center.
“It’s awesome,” coach Steve Kerr said, grinning.
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“You could tell,” forward Kevin Durant said of Thompson, “that he was feeling himself on the playmaking.”
After not having a single assist in the first three games, Thompson was credited with six over the next two. Eight, which led the Warriors, is an outburst.
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“He’s evolving in understanding how teams are guarding him,” Stephen Curry said. “When he catches the ball, he obviously demands a lot of attention. And he’s been really patient reading the situation. He made some amazing passes. He had a lot of court vision, just making the simple play.”
Golden State Warriors
Eight assists ties Thompson’s career-high in games that actually count. And Thompson still found time for 19 points, three rebounds, two steals and two blocked shots.
“He was fantastic,” Kerr said. “The drive-and-kick stuff. And he made the simple play. He wasn’t trying too hard to do anything, just putting it on the floor and finding guys – and knocking down shots when he was open. It was a great night.”
Not that Thompson, a generally laconic sort, was too impressed with his work.
“I just made the simple play,” he said. “A lot of times, it’s just a simple bounce pass or a kick out. It’s nothing new.”
Well, actually it is. Warriors players and coaches have been known to ride Thompson on his zero-assist nights. This was quite the opposite.
“He was great tonight,” Durant said. “That’s one thing that he’ll showcase this season. A lot of guys will be running at him. He’s going to have a lot of space, a lot of wide-open shots. He did a good job of driving to the paint and kicking out, because everybody is going to converge on him. He’s Klay Thompson.”