How Warriors’ Klay Thompson brought out the worst in Russell Westbrook
OKLAHOMA CITY – The Warriors’ selfless star prides himself on having stoic reactions through both the good and the bad in a game. This time, though, Klay Thompson could not help himself. He laughed loudly.
Thompson had just stuffed Thunder guard Russell Westbrook on a drive to the basket. Westbrook fumed because officials did not call a foul. So, Westbrook let out his frustrations on Thompson. Westbrook charged into Thompson. Then, Westbrook collected a technical for arguing with the official. Thompson smiled and laughed over the whole incident.
That snapshot marked the beginning of what would be a long night for the Thunder and Westbrook. The Warriors coasted to a 110-88 victory over the Oklahoma City Thunder on Saturday, with plenty of the reasons circling back to Thompson. He had 23 points while shooting 9-of-21 from the field. Thompson also became the primary defender on Westbrook, who scored only seven points while going 2-of-16 from the field and 0-of-7 from 3.
“He’s competitive. You see guys get frustrated and lash out,” Thompson said of Westbrook’s outburst. “It happens on our team and it happens to every NBA player. It’s nothing new.”
It is also nothing new for Thompson to bring out the worst in an opposing team’s top player. As Warriors coach Steve Kerr said, “Klay always takes on the challenge.” And it a challenge that Thompson takes on well.
As much as Westbrook’s outburst on Thompson reflected his frustration with a no-call, it would have been understandable if Westbrook’s frustration also stemmed from Thompson’s defense. Before Westbrook believed Thompson fouled him on that play, Thompson showcased all the qualities that make him a value defender.
When Westbrook received the ball along the baseline, Thompson did not fall for Westbrook’s pump fake. When Westbrook drove toward the basket, Thompson stayed balanced with his positioning. Then when Westbrook went up for a shot, Thompson immediately held out his arms.
“Just trying to stay in front of him and not foul. That’s pretty much all you can do,” Stephen Curry said of Thompson’s defense on Westbrook. “Contest his shots and not let him get straight line drives to the basket. He’s understanding he’s aggressive with the ball in his hands. He’s always going to be in attack mode. But Klay was always aware where he was and tried to keep a body in between him and the basket.
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In other words, this was just another game for Thompson. According to NBA.com’s tracking statistics, Thompson has held his opponents this season to a 42.5 percent clip. That same data says that Thompson has limited other top scorers this season, including Utah guard Donovan Mitchell (42.1 percent), Washington guard Bradley Beal (40 percent), Portland guard Damian Lillard (33.3 percent), Houston guard James Harden (25 percent) and Sacramento guard De’Aaron Fox (25 percent)
No wonder Draymond Green echoed the Warriors’ longly-held sentiment that Thompson should finally be named to an NBA All-Defensive team.
“There’s not many guards that is better than Klay defensively,” Green said.
Thompson showed why with his defense on Westbrook. He missed his first eight shots of the game. He did not record a single field goal until making a layup with 8:20 left in the third quarter.
Sometimes, the Warriors double teamed Westbrook. Sometimes, Warriors guard Alfonzo McKinnie helped out. Often times, Thompson handled the work himself.
Thompson’s to-do-list on Westbrook? It entailed a mix of giving him space to operate, while avoiding foul trouble and fake hustle.
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“I try to prevent him from getting downhill and make him beat you from the outside,” Thompson said. “When he’s getting to the rim and attacking, that’s when he’s getting everyone else involved and is at their best.”
And as Thompson alluded to, Westbrook is at his worst from distance. Therefore, Thompson often played his best defense on Westbrook by actually playing no defense. With Westbrook holding low numbers from 3 this season (28.2 percent) and his 11-year NBA career (30.7 percent), Thompson often played the percentages.
Thompson contested some of Westbrook’s outside shots to put pressure on him. Other times, Thompson left Westbrook open when it became more valuable either to be available on help defense inside, close out on the perimeter to another shooter or chase a rebound.
“He did a great job on Russ tonight, being into the ball and not making things easy,” Green said. “He was picking and choosing his spots and when to drop back and try to keep him off balance a little bit. He did a fantastic job.”
Once Thompson’s job was done, Westbrook remained upset. He repeatedly said “next question” pertaining to inquiries about collecting his 16th technical, which will result in an NBA-imposed one-game suspension assuming the call is not rescinded.
On this night, Thompson was the one with all the answers. He was also the one that had the last laugh.
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