Dallas Mavericks’ shooting guard Klay Thompson had all the feelings Sunday night after his new team beat the Golden State Warriors, where he won four NBA championships and was one half of the electric duo known as the “Splash Brothers” alongside Steph Curry.
Thompson had himself a night with 29 points, five rebounds and four assists on 29 minutes at Chase Center in San Francisco, his second game played in front of the fans that cheered for him during his 13 seasons with the Warriors. He received a thunderous ovation when he was introduced in the starting lineup.
Dallas Mavericks’ Klay Thompson makes Golden State Warriors pay in revenge game at San Francisco
“It felt great, I have a great history of shooting the ball great here, so I try to tap into that everytime I’m back. Man, I wanted those 30 (points), 30 sounds so much better but that’s life, we take the win.” Thompson said during an interview post-game.
The NBA star also talked about the fact of playing against his former team. “It still warms my heart to see all the No. 11 jerseys (the number he used to wear with Golden State). It still makes me incredibly grateful for the time that I did have here, legendary stuff, and now it’s time to do some legendary stuff in Dallas and I truly believe in this team, we have all the ingredients to do something special.” Thompson added.
Thompson and the Mavericks want to do something special
Thompson’s got a great point: Dallas has an all around talent in the forward-guard Luka Doncic who can take over games with his incredible shooting ability and his willingness to win. To top it off, the Mavericks have one of the best ball handlers in the backcourt, Kyrie Irving, who’s looking to get the second championship of his career.
Mavericks coach Jason Kidd describes forward P. J. Washington as the heart and soul of his team. “Once we got the trade with P. J. (last February) we got to see who P. J. is or has become,” Kidd said. “It’s more of, you can say like the heart and soul of the team.
“(He’s) the guy who does all the dirty work, the guy who goes unnoticed in a sense of maybe not talked about as the MVP or an All-Star, but is one that is the glue of the team, one that you can really rely on in any situation defensively or offensively.”
Washington’s value to the Mavs is evident by the fact that they are only 1-5 this season when he’s been unable to play. But he was back on the court after missing last Tuesday’s 118-104 loss to the Oklahoma City Thunder with an illness.
With the win over the Warriors, the Mavericks improved their record to 17-9 which puts them at fourth place in the Western Conference. Meanwhile, Golden State fell to a 14-11 record which explains why they are currently at 7th place on the same conference.
