Steph Curry has enjoyed watching this recent stretch for Klay Thompson, and is proud of his Splash Brother’s journey in returning from injury, but he explains why he doesn’t want to use the term “he’s back.”
SAN FRANCISCO -- Saturday night's Warriors game against the Orlando Magic was supposed to be all about the return of Andrew Wiggins and Andre Iguodala. The tone at Chase Center quickly turned to confusion when Klay Thompson was introduced as part of the starting lineup but wasn't on the court when the game tipped off.
With Wiggins back after missing the Warriors' previous 15 games to a right adductor strain and being sidelined to an illness, Steve Kerr announced his starting lineup would be Jordan Poole, Thompson, Wiggins, Draymond Green and Kevon Looney. Except that didn't happen.
Thompson surprisingly wasn't part of the starting five and wasn't even on the Warriors' bench when the game began. Donte DiVincenzo started in place of Thompson, who has been on fire as of late and has been playing a lot of minutes.
As the first quarter wound down, the Warriors announced Thompson officially is out for the entire game with left knee soreness. That's the same knee/ACL that Thompson originally injured in the 2019 NBA Finals against the Toronto Raptors.
The one-year anniversary of Thompson's return from tearing his left ACL and later tearing his Achilles also is only two days away.
As the Warriors continue to monitor his health, Thompson has played in five of the Warriors' six games to start this eight-game homestand, including the last three in a row. He still hasn't played the second game of a back-to-back this season. But in that five-game span, he has averaged 39 minutes per game.
Along with his 54-point performance where he played nearly 46 minutes in a double-overtime win, Thompson has averaged 33.6 points during the Warriors' homestand, as well as 5.6 rebounds and 3.2 assists. His shot continues to get better and better, knocking down 40 percent of his 3-pointers in his last five games, while averaging 14 attempts from deep.
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The four-time champion has appeared in 31 of the Warriors' first 39 games this season. He's averaging 32.2 minutes, up from 29.4 minutes last season. Thompson this season also is averaging 20.6 points per game and shooting 38.3 percent from beyond the arc, putting up a career-high 10.4 threes per game.