A couple of years ago I wrote about how Klay Thompson changed the landscape of the NBA by saving the Warriors from elimination in the 2016 Western Conference Finals against Oklahoma City Thunder.
A lot of people have forgotten how the Thunder had the 73-win Warriors down 3-1 in the WCF. The reason people forget is because the Warriors blew a 3-1 lead to the Cavs in Finals.
In game 6 the Warriors were down double digits on the road when Klay went off in 3rd quarter. He ended up hitting 11 threes and scoring 41 points. The Warriors went on to win in 7 and head to NBA Finals.
https://youtu.be/09AqpNPiZ8g
If that never happens, the Warriors never blow the lead to Cavs and Kevin Durant likely never leaves OKC. If KD doesn’t sign with Warriors, LeBron potentially could have had a better chance at winning more rings in Cleveland. It had a trickle-down effect on the entire league.
Amazingly almost two years to the day of Klay’s epic Game 6 against Thunder, he saved the Warriors again in a Game 6 that will change the NBA landscape again.
The Warriors were down 3-2 to the Rockets and down 17 points after the 1st quarter. That’s when Game 6 Klay showed up, scored 35 and hit 9 threes. During that time the Warriors went on a 93-47 run over the last three-quarters of the game.
93-47 RUN
The Warriors went on to win Game 7 and sweep the Cavs for back to back titles.
The implications of Game 6 Klay will be far-reaching. The Cavs would have had a much better matchup against Rockets. If the Cavs win a second championship, LeBron would have four rings, no one would be talking as much about his Finals record and he likely stays in Cleveland. If Rockets won then Chris Paul and James Harden could have potentially gotten the “no ring” label off their back. Either way, the Warriors aura of invincibility would have been gone.
Instead, everyone and every team will be making moves based off trying to knock the Warriors off.
LeBron, CP3, Kawhi and Paul George decisions are all likely to be influenced by the fact that Warriors with KD seem impossible to stop.
You can thank Klay Thompson once again for that.