Monday night, the fans at Oracle Arena witnessed yet another offensive explosion from its expansive scoring arsenal. Klay Thompson dropped a career-high 60 points in a 142-106 blowout victory over the Indiana Pacers.
Klay shot 21-for-33 from the field, including 8-of-14 from beyond the arc. He ended the first half with 40 points after scoring 17 and 23 in the first and second quarters respectively.
Amazingly, Thompson sat out the entirety of the fourth quarter after scoring 20 in the third period.The Splash Brother only played a total of 29 minutes last night, becoming the first player in league history to score at least 50 points in under 30 minutes of play.
His 60 points in 29 minutes equates to 2.08 points per minute, a pace that surpasses Wilt’s 2.07 per minute in his 100 point game (100 points in 48 minutes). Reigning MVP Steph Curry’s exuberance and jubilation for his fellow Splash Bro. on the bench was almost as much a spectacle as Klay’s performance.
During the post game, Curry said, “I ran out of real estate to try to keep my celebration going”.
With the addition of Kevin Durant this offseason, most expected the All-Star guard’s offensive output to suffer the most, but he’s proved he is capable of going off on any night the rock is in his hands. If anything it’s forced him to improve his shot selection and make his all-around game more razor sharp.
Klay’s no stranger to offensive eruptions. During the Warriors championship season of 2014-2015, Klay had a NBA record 37 point third quarter against the Sacramento Kings. He ended that night with his previous career-high of 52 points. The Warriors trio of Curry, Durant, and Thompson are all averaging north of 20 points per game on the season thus far.
