SAN FRANCISCO — Klay Thompson knew he made history late Friday night.
After splashing his 12th 3-pointer of the game, his eyes immediately went to the Warriors bench, where Steph Curry was sitting in street clothes. Not even basketball's greatest shooter of all-time has accomplished what Klay has in his career: hit a dozen threes in three separate games.
Klay's monster 42-point night lifted the Warriors to a much-needed 116-101 victory over the league-worst Houston Rockets on Friday night, as Golden State moved to 3-4 without Curry in the lineup since his leg injury on Feb. 4.
"I wanna sustain this all the way to June," Thompson said. "I'll enjoy and celebrate this tonight, because I did something that no one else has ever done before -- hit 12 threes for the third time. I looked at Steph immediately when I did it, because that man got all the records. It's fun to push the game forward with him. I'm still so hungry to be great. I'll never be satisfied."
On Thursday night, Thompson failed to make much of an imprint on the game. He needed 19 shots to reach 22 points in a listless loss to the Lakers when the entire team went cold from the floor.
Twenty-four hours later, Klay had no such problems. Without his heroics, we might be talking about another embarrassing loss for the Warriors.
It’s a good thing Klay has been cleared for back-to-backs recently. If the Warriors didn’t win on Friday night, it would have been a major cause for concern.
"He was brilliant tonight. It’s just so great to see him now where he can do this,” Warriors coach Steve Kerr said. “35 minutes on the second night of a back-to-back, it's big time."
The Rockets entered the contest at Chase Center with the league’s worst record, but they were without their top two players – Jalen Green and Kevin Porter Jr. Even though the Warriors were without Steph Curry (leg), Draymond Green (right knee) and Andrew Wiggins (family matter), there still would have been no excuse for a loss.
During the most recent seven-game run without Curry, his Splash Brother has carried the offense on occasion. The first contest sans Steph, Klay erupted for 12 3-pointers, just two off his NBA record and his second highest total ever. On Friday night, he splashed 12-of-17 from distance. Only eight individual performances have ever notched 12 or more 3-pointers, and Klay has accounted for two of them in the past 18 days.
"It's incredibly gratifying," Thompson said. "I always reflect on the years that I was not playing and I think about the times I was just sideline watching. It was a weird time. Now it's easy to put every thing in perspective and appreciate nights like this."
The outburst tied his second-highest scoring game of the season, trailing only the 52-point salvo against the Atlanta Hawks on Jan. 2. So, does Klay feel like he's recaptured his pre-injury form from 2019?
"I don't like to talk about vintage me or 'Am I my old self,'" Thompson said. "I just think I'm being myself. I'm capable of these things in the past. As long as my wrists still work and my feet work, I'll forever be able to shoot the rock. For me, it's just about hunting great shots."
Klay was clearly on a mission to shoot 3-pointers on Friday night, as he only attempted two 2-point field goals all night. After sinking a couple of trifectas in the final period, Klay egged on the crowd, pounding his chest and waving his hands.
"It’s what he does," guard Ty Jerome said. "He’s a shooter. One of the best shooters of all time. When he gets going, feed the hot hand."
Against subpar competition, Klay’s big night was enough to lift the Warriors over the Rockets, as no other Golden State player recorded more than 15 points. But the Warriors hit 26 3-pointers, one shy of the franchise record, while shooting at a 48.1 percent clip.
We know that Curry will miss at least the next two games before getting re-evaluated for his leg injury, so Klay will need some support in the coming days against better teams.
