Klay Thompson waited 12 years to play the Los Angeles Lakers in the NBA Playoffs.
The Southern California kid was born in Los Angeles, where he watched his father, Mychal Thompson, play for the Lakers for six seasons. He grew up a Lakers fan, idolizing Kobe Bryant, just like we all did.
Because Steph Curry and LeBron James are on the marquee, Thompson has often been thought of as an afterthought in this series, but he stole show on Thursday night.
Thompson scored 30 points, draining eight three-pointers, leading the Golden State Warriors to a 127-100 Game 2 blowout victory over the Lakers that evened the series at one game apiece.
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"We're excited to play the Lakers," Thompson said before the series began. "It's a legendary franchise. Warriors and Lakers, it's been a long time since we've seen each other in the playoffs. I know I am personally excited that I get to play in front of my father, mother, and best friends in SoCal. It's just a dream come true. I've waited for this for 12 years."
If Curry is John Lennon, then Thompson played the role of Paul McCartney and got the lead vocals in Game 2. Curry might not have led the team in scoring, but he did everything else for Golden State, dishing out 12 assists to go with his 20 points. Thompson's eight three-pointers was the sixth time he's had eight or more threes in a playoff game in his career. That's two more than anyone else in NBA history including Curry.
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"I feel like I forced a few shots in Game 1 and tonight I just played within the flow of the offense," said Thompson of his performance in Game 2. "I'm at my best when I'm running around screens, hitting the open man, and cutting hard. Steph was magnificent tonight, 20 and 12, and we go as he goes, I think everyone knows that."
Curry admitted after the game he likes to be the one that shoots the lights out like Thompson did, but says it takes away from his greatness if he's only labeled as one thing.
"The labels and all that stuff, I don't ever get into it. Labels demean and bottle up greatness," said Curry. "I try and do it a lot of different ways and how you label it or describe it doesn't matter to me. You know how I try and impact games, whether that's shooting it 38 times or shooting 12 times and trying to find what the defense is giving you. I'm going to keep doing that."
Thompson was at his best in Game 2, but that typically means someone on the Lakers was at their worst. After a monster game in the opener, Lakers' center Anthony Davis disappeared in Game 2.
Davis had 30 points and 23 rebounds in Game 1. He only had 11 points and seven rebounds in Game 2. Throughout this postseason, as Davis has gone, so have the Lakers. When the big man dominates, the Lakers win the game. When he struggles, they typically lose.
"I took all the same shots I took in Game 1, I just missed them," said Davis of Game 2. "It was the same exact looks I had in Game 1, I just missed them. That's all. They made adjustments and shot the ball extremely well from three. I'll be better making those shots when we get back home on our home floor and we'll try and take care of business."
Such was the case in Game 2. LeBron James had his best performance of the series so far, scoring 23 points with seven rebounds, and was 3-for-8 from beyond the arc.
Rui Hachimura also had his best performance of the series as well. After a surprisingly sensational series off the bench against the Memphis Grizzlies, Hachimura scored 21 points in Game 2 including four three-pointers.
"They changed their starters and offensively they opened up the floor," said Hachimura of what the Warriors did differently from Game 1 to Game 2. "It was hard for us to guard four shooters. Defensively they were more aggressive. They got all the loose balls and rebounding. That was the game."
Golden State started small in Game 2, with Warriors' head coach Steve Kerr inserting JaMychal Green into the starting lineup instead of rebounding machine Kevon Looney.
"This seemed like a series for him the way the Lakers are playing us defensively," said Kerr of Green. "I'm proud of him. It's been a tough year for him. I didn't play him a whole lot, but he just stayed ready and took advantage of his opportunity."
The smaller lineup worked from the jump, with the Warriors leading for most of the first quarter until the Lakers opened up their largest lead of the game at 26-19 by the end of the first frame.
But it was all Warriors after that.
Golden State exploded for 84 points in the second and third quarters, outscoring the Lakers 84-47 over that span. By the time the third quarter had come to an end, Lakers' head coach Darvin Ham had waived the white flag, benching James and Davis for the remainder of the game.
"We knew they were a big third quarter team, and they came out on fire," said Davis. "They had 41 in the second and 43 in the third. That's not like us on the defensive end to give up those kind of quarters. We have to be better defensively. Going into halftime when they made that run, that's where the game got away from us."
After a large free throw discrepancy for the Lakers in Game 1 (29-6), it was the Warriors who attacked the basket with more regularity in Game 2, shooting 16 free throws to the Lakers 17.
The Lakers dominated the paint in Game 1, out-scoring the Warriors 54-28 in the paint. Things were more balanced in Game 2, with the Warriors slightly out-scoring the Lakers 48-42 in the paint.
"You have to get to the free throw line and get points in the paint," said LeBron James on how to stop those Warriors runs. "They are going to go on runs, that's what they do, but you have to keep scoring and try and hold the fort down. But you have to give credit where credit is due. They played exceptionally well tonight and we didn't. The series is tied one-one and that's where we're at."
NBA playoff series are often dictated by the play of superstars. Miami Heat forward Jimmy Butler's first-round series against the Milwaukee Bucks is a great example. And while this series may still be determined by the play of Steph Curry and LeBron James, through the first two games, it was the Robin to the team's Batman that have been the unexpected heroes in Games 1 and 2.
"It's one-one at the end of the day, so we have to go LA and get one, and then go from there," said Thompson of what this blowout victory means for Game 3.
The series now shifts to Los Angeles, where the Lakers are a perfect 4-0 at home at Crypto.com arena this postseason.
"I fully anticipate our team to respond in the right way," said Lakers' head coach Darvin Ham.
Game 3 is scheduled to tip off at 5:30PM PT on Saturday night in Los Angeles.
