Golden State Warriors shooting guard Klay Thompson can’t seem to escape his shooting slump this NBA season. Thompson hit rock bottom when he shot 1/10 from the field in Golden State’s most recent outing.
With Draymond Green serving a suspension and Stephen Curry out with a knee injury, Thompson entered the Nov. 16 contest with a heavy burden on his shoulders. Unfortunately, the five-time All-Star fell well short of expectations.
Thompson recorded five points in 27 minutes of action as the Warriors fell 128-109 to the Oklahoma City Thunder. OKC handed the 2022 champions their fifth straight loss and fourth straight home defeat. During the first four games of the team’s current homestand, Thompson has averaged an abominable 8.8 points per game.
Without counting Thompson’s two-minute night caused by an ejection in Minnesota, the long-range specialist has still posted just 11.7 points per game across his three full contests. Thompson has not averaged less than 20 points for a season since the 2013-14 campaign, but he has only notched 13.8 points a night so far on a career-low 32.9% from three.
NBA NEWS & RUMORS: Klay Thompson, Golden State Warriors, Oklahoma City Thunder Updates
Thompson, who shoots 41.5% from three for his career, has only hit 40.1% of his field goal attempts through 12 games. During Golden State’s current stretch of home games, Thompson has hit 25.6% of his shot attempts and 27.3% of his 3-point attempts.
After his team’s latest loss, head coach Steve Kerr addressed Thompson’s unfortunate struggles to find good looks and knock them down. He also credited Oklahoma City for defending the four-time champ well. With Curry out, the Thunder were able to focus more of their attention on Thompson.
“They loaded up on him and made it really tough on him,” Kerr said, per Warriors on NBCS. “They had Dort draped all over him, doing a good job defensively. We weren’t really able to create any space for him with our lineups and our offense.”
NBA NEWS & RUMORS: Klay Thompson, Golden State Warriors, Oklahoma City Thunder Updates
Kerr also made it clear that the Warriors must find a way to help Thompson break out of his slump moving forward.
“They just kept him really smothered, and he was trying to get his own shot,” Kerr said. “He took a lot of tough ones … out of frustration, I think. He’s just trying to get himself going. We’ve gotta try to find a way to get him some cleaner looks.”
NBA NEWS & RUMORS: Klay Thompson, Golden State Warriors, Oklahoma City Thunder Updates
While Curry’s impactful space creation allows players like Thompson to thrive in Golden State’s system, there is no excuse for Thompson’s anemic play thus far. The second splash bro has posted career lows in made threes per game, 3-point percentage, assists per game, and steals per game.
Thompson will look to right the ship as the Warriors host the Thunder for a second game in a row. Golden State gets a chance at revenge on Nov. 18.
