SAN FRANCISCO — This time, Dallas Mavericks guard Klay Thompson made essentially the most out of his journey again to the Bay Area, visiting his previous East Bay neighborhood, having dinner at a pal’s home and driving by former haunts similar to downtown Oakland and Oakland Arena, beforehand often called Oracle Arena.
“It was very surreal,” Thompson stated of returning to face his previous group, the Golden State Warriors, once more. “Because I used to be 21 years previous after I got here right here and to see The City and The Town is all the time particular. So many good recollections.”
A way more settled down Thompson made a distinction for the Mavericks of their second assembly this season with Golden State, a 143-133 victory for Dallas. Thompson scored 29 factors, flattening 7-of-11 from deep as a part of a 3-point extravaganza that noticed the Warriors and Mavericks mix to make 48 3s, essentially the most in a recreation in NBA historical past.
“We gave up 46 [points] within the first quarter, and we’re enjoying upstream the remainder of the best way,” Warriors coach Steve Kerr stated. “I’m undecided I’ve ever seen a field rating like this. We go 27-for-54 from 3, 39 assists, 10 turnovers, and it felt like we had been by no means actually within the recreation.
“We lower it to 5 a pair instances, guys stored combating, however they managed the whole recreation on an evening the place we made 27 3s and did not flip the ball over. It’s a contemporary NBA, it is a totally different world, it is a totally different recreation. And 10 years in the past, you see that type of offensive stat sheet for the group, I’d say we win that recreation by 20, possibly 30.”
The Warriors had no reply for Luka Doncic, who registered 45 factors, 13 assists, 11 rebounds, 3 steals and a pair of blocks.
And Thompson capitalized when his alternatives got here. After drawing a loud applause from the house crowd when the guests’ beginning lineup was introduced, the taking pictures guard made 9-of-14 total and seemed extra comfy.
The final time the Mavericks had been right here, on Nov. 12, Thompson was returning to play his former group for the primary time after spending his total profession with the Warriors, who drafted him with the eleventh choose in 2011. It was a large celebration of the sharpshooter who helped Golden State win 4 NBA championships.
Warriors workers had lined up alongside the partitions of the ramp the place the visiting group arrives at Chase Center and saluted Thompson with a tip of a captain’s hat, which was distributed to followers that evening due to Thompson’s love for crusing on his boat. That set the tone for a really emotional evening for Thompson, who went 7-of-17 from the sector, together with six treys, for 22 factors in a 120-117 loss to Golden State.
This time, there was a smattering of captain’s hats within the stands — however not all through the whole constructing like on Nov. 12.
“Way simpler,” Thompson stated of this second go-round. “Especially not seeing all of the captain’s hats. I noticed a couple of of these. Much simpler. Felt extra settled in than the primary time I used to be out right here.”
Dallas has received 12 of its previous 14 video games. Meanwhile, the Warriors have slumped after a 12-3 begin, dropping eight of their previous 10.
Help is on the best way for Golden State after it made a commerce to accumulate level guard Dennis Schroder. The deal grew to become official on Sunday, with Schroder anticipated to take his bodily and apply with the group on Tuesday.
With Thompson gone, the Warriors have been in search of one other scorer to go together with Stephen Curry.
Thompson is acclimating to his new group and his new life, which suggests having to protect Curry each time the 2 compete in opposition to one another. They do not meet once more till February for one recreation in Dallas and one other in San Francisco.
“It’s totally different however I get extra accustomed to it with every time we face one another,” Thompson stated of guarding Curry. “We guarded one another loads of instances in practices and scrimmages. You all the time cherish the moments you get to face the very best gamers. It’s cool I get to say I guarded Steph like I guarded Kobe [Bryant] and KD [Kevin Durant]. It’s one other story I get to inform.”
Curry, Thompson’s longtime “Splash Brother,” additionally hit seven 3-pointers Sunday evening, as they grew to become the primary pair of gamers in NBA historical past to make seven-plus 3s in a recreation as teammates and seven-plus 3s in a recreation as opponents.
ESPN Research contributed to this report.
