After a 96-91 loss to the Cleveland Cavaliers in Game 3 of the NBA Finals, Klay Thompson can’t help but remain confident. The overarching story of the last two games has been the mounting offensive struggles of the Warriors and specifically MVP Stephen Curry, with much due credit to the Cavaliers making things difficult for them.
Golden State posted their lowest scoring half of the season (37) in the first half of Game 3. At one point in the game, Klay Thompson and Stephen Curry were being outscored by Matthew Dellavedova. But the Warriors captured their flow late in desperation and won the fourth quarter 36-24, which included a familiar eruption from Curry. It was their first thread of collective confidence in the entire game, and Klay Thompson thinks they’ll capture it again.
From Diamond Leung of the Mercury News:
“We haven’t even had a good game offensively these three days, and we were still in it every game,” guard Klay Thompson said. “If we get our offense back, which we will, we’re going to win this series.”
Klay has a great point here, but it’s still on the Warriors to muster up the toughness and focus required to establish and maintain that offensive rhythm, which is their biggest challenge. The Cavaliers are making a relentless, highly determined effort behind LeBron James, particularly on the defensive end. They have held the Warriors under 100 points in Games 2 and 3, and Game 2 went into overtime.
Thompson and Curry have both been able to find their scoring in these Finals, and now in a must-win Game 4, it has to come together. If the Warriors have their “offense back” as Klay put it, and are playing anywhere close to what we saw in the regular season, then they probably will win this series. That doesn’t take away from the enormous task of beating the best player in the world on his home floor in Game 4, but Klay’s confidence is definitely what is required to do so.
