Klay’s great response to missing two FTs in final seconds

Warriors

Klay’s great response to missing two FTs in final seconds

Warriors star Klay Thompson may do a lot of unbelievably inhumane things on the basketball court, but he issued a friendly PSA after missing two important free throws in Sunday’s win over the Memphis Grizzlies. 

“I’m human,” Thompson told reporters after the game. “I’ve learned from so much experience that you have to move forward when you still have the lead.” 

Thompson silenced the crowd at FedExForum when he hit a clutch 3-pointer with 36.6 seconds left to give the Warriors a 117-116 lead.

But Memphis had plenty of time to re-take the lead as Grizzlies’ star Ja Morant took matters into his own hands and drove the basket. Steph Curry blocked Morant’s shot and Jordan Poole secured the defensive board. 

With very few options remaining, the Grizzlies decided to foul Thompson and send him to the free-throw line to shoot two with under seven seconds remaining. 

Thompson, an 85 percent free-throw shooter, had the chance to extend Golden State’s lead to three, but ended up missing both shots from the stripe. 

The rare pair of missed free throws allowed Memphis to not only have to shoot a three, but a single shot would have put them in a position to win the game as time expired. 

Morant exploded to the basket and tried to lay the ball in, but thanks to Thompson rotating over to help contest the shot, Thompson was able to make up for those missed free throws with the game-deciding defensive stop. 

As the clock wound down, the score remained the same and the Warriors were able to pull off the nail-biting win in the Game 1 matchup of the second round of the playoffs. 

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“We had to get a stop,” Thompson said. “So I’m proud of myself for turning that page and focusing on the defensive end. I learned in life you can’t go back. I did miss those free throws, I was very disappointed in myself, but I quickly forgot about them and realized we have a chance to win this game in four seconds. It sucks but we won and that’s all that really matters.” 

True.

Warriors fans probably quickly forgot about the missed free throws when Thompson helped make the impressive stop on the other end. 

And living by Thompson’s words, the Warriors “can’t go back” and have to remain focused on Game 2 on Tuesday.