SAN FRANCISCO (AP) – With star teammate Stephen Curry sidelined, Klay Thompson kept shooting and took care of the offensive load the Golden State Warriors were missing without their reigning NBA Finals MVP.
Thompson scored 42 points with a season-high 12 three-pointers, Jordan Poole added 21 points and career-best 12 assists starting in Curry’s place, and the Warriors beat the Oklahoma City Thunder 141-114 on Monday night.
“It was a beautiful game to watch him play,” Draymond Green said of Thompson.
“We needed it. It’s been a while since we had a blowout win. It’s good to get this one, especially first game with Steph out. It was good to start off on this foot and try to create some momentum.”
Thompson sat down for the night to a roaring ovation with 4:41 left to finish 15 for 22 from the floor and 12 of 16 on threes. Thompson now has eight games with 10 or more three-pointers, second in NBA history behind Splash Brother Curry’s 22.
“This is a confidence booster for sure to play without him, but to see the performance of the team, amazing individual performances we got,” coach Steve Kerr said. “It was a feel-good game for a lot of people and that just really fuels everybody. Hopefully we can keep that going.”
Andrew Wiggins scored 18 points in Golden State’s first game since losing Curry to a left leg injury late in the third quarter of Saturday’s win against Dallas – and the Warriors went 26 of 50 from deep without the league’s career three-point leader.
