Don’t worry, Dub Nation. Klay Thompson is fully aware that he’s in a shooting slump, but he doesn’t sound concerned in the slightest.
The Warriors are in Boston getting prepared for Wednesday night’s Game 3 of the Finals. Through the first two contests of the series against the Celtics, Thompson has made just 10-of-33 field goals (30.3 percent), as a reporter noted in a question Tuesday.
“Thanks for reminding me of my delightful shooting percentage,” Thompson said with a smile.
After missing two-and-a-half years due to injury, Klay has a different perspective on the Finals his sixth time around. He never knew if he’d get back to this level, so he’s soaking it all in. But he knows he needs to get that shooting clip up eventually.
“This is nothing I'm immune to. I've been through shooting slumps before. The best part is, it's how you respond,” Thompson said. “Come Game 3, I'll probably not do much differently rather than just play with great pace and hunt great shots. When I tend to do that, I tend to have a big night.”
As recently as Monday, Thompson said he went back and looked at highlights of himself from previous playoff games. Even Thompson has searched “Game 6 Klay” to try and get his mojo back.
“That's the beauty of playing in today's age,” Thompson said. “You can go on YouTube and look up all your great moments. For me, it's as recently as round (one) against the Nuggets, or last round against the Mavs. I haven't had a multiple three-point game throughout the series, but I stuck to the process, eventually I blew the lid off.”
It’s funny that Thompson didn’t note his performance against the Memphis Grizzlies in the Western Conference Semifinals, as he added to the legend of Game 6 Klay with an epic 30-pointer performance that included eight made 3-pointers.
Klay’s not the only one who YouTubes himself. His fellow Splash Brother Steph Curry said, “All the best (players) do it,” while adding he also likes to watch Ray Allen, Reggie Miller, his brother Seth and father Dell.
Over the past two games,Thompson has hardly looked like Game 6 Klay against the defensive-minded Celtics. We’ve seen Klay try to force the issue at other points this season, especially when he was first coming back from injury in January. Warriors coach Steve Kerr said Thompson is falling back into those habits again.
“I think he's just pressing a little bit,” Kerr said. “He just wants so badly to do well that he's taking some bad ones. I'm not particularly concerned about it because this isn't the first time it's happened. Klay has a way of responding to mini slumps or whatever you want to call them.”
Steph has also dealt with cold spells this season and the mounting pressure from outsiders that goes with it. He said he doesn’t feel the need to give a pep talk to Thompson for his confidence.
“Honestly, you don't really want to hear anything about it if you're going through it yourself,” Curry said. “Because you know at any moment you can spark yourself to get back on track and get out of it. It's the best you can probably say is just keep shooting because that's the only way you get yourself out of some rough patches.”
Curry thinks it’s just a matter of time before Klay goes off.
“History with him has shown there's no predictor,” Thompson said. “He can just take it to another level.”
One thing about Klay is that he’s never gonna lose his confidence. Even if he’s shooting 30 percent in the Finals.
“For me, it's about keeping that same mindset of shooters shoot,” Thompson said. “I'd rather go down swinging than being gun shy.”
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