Golden State guard Klay Thompson has been happy to adjust to star forward Kevin Durant joining the Warriors, surrendering scoring chances to help turn the squad into an NBA juggernaut.
Thompson averaged a career-high 22.3 points a game this season, his scoring numbers rising all six seasons in the league, but his play-off scoring is off 10 points a game and he had only six points in Thursday’s 113-91 Warriors win over Cleveland to open the best-of-seven NBA Finals.
“That’s not a big deal at all,” Thompson said. “If I score six points a game and it gets us four wins and an NBA championship, I can do that every year.
“I’m not about getting numbers. I’m not about getting these gaudy stats. If you win the last game, you had a great season. And that’s our goal. That’s what we come to expect every year now.”
While Thompson went 3-of-16 from the floor, his defensive work was impressive. Rivals shot only 1-for-12 against him, allowing Durant to strike for 38 points and guard Stephen Curry to score 28.
“Obviously I could have shot the ball much better. I hope to make a few more of those on Sunday and instead of win by 20, win by 30, I guess,” Thompson said with a laugh.
“I was happy with my performance on (the other) side of the ball, being locked in defensively. It didn’t matter who I was guarding, I was trying to make it tough on them just to get a good look.
“If we have that same defensive effort collectively, we’ll be really tough to beat.”
The Warriors, off to a 13-0 play-off start to match an NBA postseason win streak record, could become the first NBA champions to run through four play-off rounds undefeated.
“Last year’s playoffs felt like a war every game,” Thompson said. “This year we’re 13-0 and playing at a very high level. But we’ve still got a long way to go. Our goal is a championship. But up to this point, you couldn’t ask for a better start.”
Cavaliers vow more aggression
Meanwhile, Cavaliers coach Tyronn Lue has said his team will need to make quicker decisions and be more aggressive in Sunday’s Game 2.
“I know we’ll play better come Sunday,” Lue said on Friday. “But we have to take away the easy baskets. We did a poor job of taking care of the basketball and they were able to get out in transition and get easy baskets.”
Lue won’t make any changes in the starting line-up after watching a horror show game film, but he does want to see quicker decision making.
“We have to just do a better job of being direct with what we want to do,” Lue said. “We can’t be caught in between. That’s when turnovers happen. We have to be aggressive getting to the basket or making the right passes and right play. We can’t play in between.”
Cavaliers forward Kevin Love says execution, not effort, is what must improve.
“Defensively our schemes were there. We just need to execute them,” Love said. “That’s ultimately what showed up on the tape and what Ty continues to preach to us.
“Guys just need to settle in. Now that certain guys have gotten a taste of it, I think you’ll see a lot better showing in game two. It’s not for lack of effort. Guys are competing very hard. It’s just us focusing that much more on the game plan and knowing how we have to play.”
* Agence France-Presse
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