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In case you need to remember how unjust the Golden State Warriors are, Klay Thompson, who had a terrible shooting crisis early in the season, broke out for an NBA record in a record 14 record 14 points en route to 52 points Monday. He did it all in 26 minutes. The Warriors scored 92 points in the first half and 149 in the game, despite keeping their starters for the fourth quarter. Kevin Durant was over-45 for the game. Stephen Curry shot 78 percent of the field. There is no way to extract even a bit of meaning from these numbers.
And yet, the numbers are not what was so impressive about this night.
The most impressive thing was watching the way the Warriors, on the one hand, helped Klay to do everything possible to get the ball at the expense of their own attention, and second, to celebrate it with such sincerity when he broke the record. Keep in mind that Curry had already broken this record after losing 13 points against New Orleans in 2016. Do you think Curry cares more about this record than seeing his teammate struggling to make a mincemeat of 26 minutes? Take a look at the lower right corner of the highlight below. Notice who knocks Klay's man to have it open, then celebrate the celebrations as the record holder enters.
On the long list of attributes that make warriors historically exceptional, chemistry is not at the top. First and foremost, the Warriors have a breathtaking talent. At just about any reasonable level, they have two of the top three players in the world, and yet, it's their third scoring option that is now the only player in the NBA's history. to score more than 52 points in less than 30 minutes. Thompson has already done this twice, the other being his 29 minute effort and 60 points against the Pacers in 2016. Do not forget, it's also the man who scored an NBA record with 37 points in a single quarter in 2015 against kings.
Again, this is the third option of warriors.
A better version of Reggie Miller is a third option.
The talent of the warriors is amazing.
But after that, what makes this Warriors team so special, so seemingly unbeatable, is the way all these talented players play not only between them, but also for One and the other. There are two games, Curry has accumulated 51 points on the Wizards. During the same night, Durant had 30 points, eight rebounds and seven assists on 13 out of 13 shots. He was cooking. And yet, throughout the second half, Durant was doing everything possible to get the ball to Curry. Everyone was doing the same thing for Thompson on Monday. Many teams say what to do to play selflessly, not to worry about who deserves credit, but the Warriors embody those basketball ideals every minute they're together on the ground.
On Monday, it was Curry, the best shooter of all time who started the year on fire and would be perfectly entitled to aim his own shot, which was mounting screens for Klay and staring him in transition . It was Durant – he racked up 25 points in the fourth quarter after 41 points against the Knicks – who finished with eight assists. It was Draymond Green, the quarterback offensives of the Warriors offensive, giving Thompson priority over his other two teammates. That's how it happens:
"The guys fed him every time," Steve Kerr said after the match. "I think it's just how much they care about Klay, I think they all appreciated for him because he had a difficult start to the season."
Indeed, Thompson was in a terrible crisis on arrival Monday, having managed only five of 36 3 of the year. That's 13 percent. This is unthinkable for a shooter of his caliber, even in a small sample. The warriors knew that Klay needed it and they did everything they could to give it to him.
Durant talked about this kind of awareness, shall we say, at the scale of the team shortly after arriving at Golden State. He explained how they play basketball differently. He said how uninterested Curry was, that it was not an act, but that he really gave priority to the team and not just talking. Kerr called the version of Curry the Warriors Tim Duncan in this way, the modest superstar who willingly fainted, if only slightly, in option # 2 while Durant climbed to the player of choice with two MVPs from consecutive finals. You can count on one hand the number of players, through the history, of the caliber of Curry who would be willing to make such a compromise.
Relatively speaking, Thompson has made the same kind of sacrifice for most of his career. Again, this is the second best three-point shooter in history, no question. It could be a # 1 option on many teams. And yet, for the match on Monday, he scored on average less than 41 keys per game. Curry arrived on average almost twice as much. Draymond Green and Durant were both close to 70 touches per game. Yet here is Klay, the second best three-pointer of all time, touching the ball – do not shoot it, just moving it's less than once for two possessions of the Warriors.
Who supports this?
Klay does this and he explains to a large extent why this warrior business works so well. Yes, Curry made compromises, but he's still a star. Thompson, most nights, is a legitimate afterthought. He made sure to be a perennial star player and has the infinite respect of everyone in the league, but he's not seen as a superstar. He's fine with that. He plays his role, takes control of Curry in defense, makes the most of the few times he touches the ball. Throughout everything, he continues to play. Never do it.
Compare that to what's happening with Jimmy Butler and the Timberwolves, or that mess of Wizards in Washington, where everyone gets fucked off the field chasing all the individual games they can find on the field. And then, they wonder why they do not play at the height of their talent.
Chemistry counts for a lot. This summer, I spoke to Travis Schlenk, who is now the Hawks General Manager, but spent more than 10 years in the Warriors front office. He was enthusiastic about the Warriors' understanding and their great affection. from each other and how this kind of real team chemistry is both rare and powerful. This does not mean that you can not win without it, but it helps to have it.
Schlenk is now trying to build something similar in Atlanta. He got his Steph Curry in the form of Trae Young. The Hawks run and shoot a 3 on the five positions. During the pre-season, Young said that one of the things that helped him the most was the chemistry that he was developing with the guys, not just on the ground, but outside: "This translates into games," he said.
You can see that the warriors really like to play together and, for all the ways that the teams have tried to model their game style after Golden State, it's their way of playing. together it's hard to replicate.
"You could see they were force-feeding me," Thompson said of his teammates during a post-game interview on the NBA TV. "I'm just lucky to play with them."
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