Klay Thompson: ‘I want to shoot the lights out all the time’ after dazzling display for Golden State Warriors | NBA News

Klay Thompson looked back to his old self on Thursday night.

The Splash Brother is still officially in recovery mode, with him continuing to play under a minutes restriction after returning to the court for the Golden State Warriors following a two-and-a-half-year absence due to two serious injuries and subsequent surgeries on his left knee and right Achilles tendon.

Thompson hit his first seven shots overall and initial six 3-pointers on the way to 23 points and seven assists as the Golden State Warriors beat the undermanned Sacramento Kings 126-114 on Thursday night for their eighth straight victory.

He went 7-of-9 overall from deep on the night and he admitted to reporters after the game that it’s the best he’s felt since making his return just over a month ago.

“That felt so dang good,” said Thompson. “After everything I’ve been through, I just really appreciate nights like this. The shooting part is so much fun and when you see hard work paying off it just hits different now than it did a few years ago.

“Just being an athlete, it can be so fragile doing what we do, and it can be taken away from you in an instant.”

But although he appreciates the return of the magical sense of invincibility when shooting that probably only fellow Splash Bro and team-mate Stephen Curry experiences in the same way, Klay wants more.

“I’m happy with tonight but I want to build off this, I want to shoot the lights out all the time.

“Anytime you shoot the ball well, you feel that hard work paying off it does wonders for your confidence. You just have to keep building off of it and I will, I’m going to go to Oklahoma (for the Warriors’ next game against the OKC Thunder) and hopefully channel the same energy.”

With the sixth of his seven 3-pointers, Thompson passed Kobe Bryant on the NBA all-time made 3-pointers list, and admitted that passing his childhood hero on the list was an honour.

“Always an honour [to pass Kobe in any category],” said the shooting guard, with noticeable emotion. “I mean, we miss him so much.

“He was 1-on-1. He’s my biggest inspiration for playing basketball so we really miss him and Gigi.”

Thompson’s team-mate Curry was delighted to see his old comrade looking back to his very best, as the Warriors claimed their eighth win in a row.

“It was awesome to see,” said Curry. “I love when he’s got pep in his step and getting rewarded with shots going in. He can get hot any moment, [when] he’s got that look in his eye, we love to see that. It’s a big boost for the whole team.

“I know it is for him as well. Just gave him some pointers on the celebrations, but other than that it was kind of a faultless performance by him.”

By that, Curry means an incident where Thompson didn’t realise a timeout had been called after he’s drained a bucket, instead choosing to look at the crowd and celebrate.

“That was funny,” admitted Thompson. “No I didn’t [know a timeout had been called], I’m happy he did.”

Curry said earlier this season that it would be broken down into three segments (before Klay returns, phasing him back into the lineup after his return, and full squad getting in tune for the postseason) and the MVP candidate is happy with how things are progressing in that regard, although he admitted the injury to Draymond Green has complicated that timeline a little.

“We’re still in that middle phase [of adjusting to Klay],” said Curry. “It’s tough because that wasn’t part of the plan, having Draymond out for so long. I know he’s making progress and hopefully he can get back in a reasonable time so we can have a good chunk of time on the remaining schedule before the playoffs to find out rhythm and peak at the right time.

“I like the way we’re trending because three weeks ago we had some rough nights and it was kind of gloomy around the locker room in terms of our performance and our energy. But we responded extremely well in terms of winning eight in a row and guys starting to fill certain roles.

“We want a good stretch where he hopefully have a full squad to see what we’ve got to work with [for the playoffs] and how the rotations are going to be and all that.”