MIAMI (AP) — Klay Thompson is going back to California. His shooting groove evidently is making the trip.
Thompson's slow start to the season seems to be over, after he made seven 3-pointers — five of them coming in a seven-minute barrage of the third quarter that blew the game open — and helped the Miami Heat beat the Indiana Pacers 145-125 on Friday night.
He was shooting 32% from beyond the arc in his first five games with the Heat. A 7-for-12 night
later, he's up to 39%.
“It wasn’t the best start to the season,” Thompson said after the 54th instance of him making at least seven 3-pointers in a regular-season game. “But to come out here and play with poise and confidence, I knew I was due for a night like this.”
It's early in the season and stats get skewed with small sample sizes, but that run in the third quarter was something Miami had been waiting to see.
“He has an exponential possibility factor for this team and you can see why,” Heat coach Erik Spoelstra said. “He always will provide the gravity, but he is the definition of ignitable. When he gets on a roll like that, he is really tough to stop. We’ve all seen it or been on the other end of it. But it was fun seeing it in a Miami Heat jersey.”
Heat forward Giannis Antetokounmpo was more succinct.
“It’s like throwing a rock into the ocean," Antetokounmpo said. "It's fun to watch. It's fun to witness greatness. He’s one of the best shooters of all time.”
And Thompson found his form just in time, too.
The Heat start a five-game road trip on Monday, the first four of those games to be played in Thompson's beloved California. It starts with games against the Lakers and Clippers — meaning he'll be back in his hometown of Los Angeles, the place where he fell in love with basketball in large part because his father, Mychal, was playing for the Lakers.
The trip then continues in Golden State, the team that Thompson won four titles with when he was “Splash Brothers” with Warriors sharpshooter Stephen Curry. And from there the Heat will move on to Sacramento, a city where Thompson won a high school state title in 2008 by making seven 3s — a California boys state final record.
“I love going to LA," Thompson said. "I love seeing my parents, my brothers, my niece and nephew. ... And then, you go up the interstate and go the Bay and all the memories I was able to make up there are second to none. I'll see so many guys I grew up with, and I want to beat them bad; we're all still very competitive in our mid-30s and I love to go compete against them because they’re some of my best friends.
"I just can’t wait to go back and see familiar faces — not just the players, but the training staff, the equipment managers, the people who work the stands and the concessions, the custodians. I have friends for life in the Bay and LA, so it’s always special.”
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