JJ Redick has spot-on explanation for what’s wrong with Warriors’ Klay Thompson
Klay #Klay
Klay Thompson of the Golden State Warriors warms up before facing the Los Angeles Lakers in Game 5 of the Western Conference semifinals at Chase Center on Wednesday in San Francisco.
Forget about Game 6 Klay: Warriors fans would take regular old Klay Thompson on Friday, as his production has cratered over the last three games. Thompson has averaged just 11.3 points per game in that stretch with Golden State on the brink.
JJ Redick, the former NBA sharpshooter and current ESPN analyst, believes that it’s because of how Golden State has changed its offensive approach in this series (which ironically has brought the Dubs success otherwise). He argues that Thompson “probably has been hurt more than anyone by the Warriors’ decision to go to primarily pick-and-roll offense, when Steph’s on the floor in particular.”
Redick noted that Steve Kerr’s classic motion offense, with Draymond Green as the facilitating “hub at the top of the key” allows Thompson to get easier buckets through a lot of layup opportunities. As Redick sees it, the psychology of seeing a layup go in the hoop creates confidence for more difficult shots down the stretch.
“He’s such a good cutter, and if you’re getting one or two layups a half, it alleviates some of that stress from the quick catch-and-shoots,” Redick said. “When you’re not in the flow, and your normal flow as a shooter — and I know, I lived it — if every five possessions you get a pin-down, you gotta fly off, and there’s somebody in the gap, it’s like ‘I gotta jack.’ It’s inherent nature.
“It’s not just that he’s missing. It’s the volume, outside of the one game, has not been there,” he added.
Thompson’s minutes have been consistent in this second-round series against the Lakers, yet his shot numbers have only gone down. The “one game” Redick mentions is Game 1, where he hoisted up 25 shot attempts, but he hasn’t broken 20 attempts since.
The numbers indicate that Thompson’s inability to get easy shot attempts in this pick-and-roll-focused offense, which began in earnest in Game 2, has fed into that issue. As Nekias Duncan pointed out on Redick’s podcast, Thompson is shooting well from 3 (43.1% this series) but is a paltry 9-of-29 (31%) on 2-point shots.
“What are the matchups for him to get those post-ups that you’ll see the Warriors sprinkle in for him? They haven’t really been there,” Duncan said. “How many drives have we seen from Klay? It hasn’t really felt like anything has been comfortable for him. … They haven’t been able to get him the easy stuff.”
Fair or not, Thompson may feel the pressure to perform in a huge Game 6 because of his reputation. In Game 6 against the Kings last round, he forced way too much and put up a pretty ugly stat line on the way to a 19-point loss in a game that was pretty much over halfway through the fourth. However, Golden State actually had some room for error in that game, up 3-2 in the series. The stakes are a lot higher now. Down 3-2, the Warriors have to win, or their season ends against longtime rival LeBron James. If Game 6 Klay is going to make an appearance, Redick might be right: He needs to get going with easy shots early.