Klay Thompson's dominant game off the bench shows new role suits him

After a late miscue in Wednesday’s loss to the Clippers, Steve Kerr took Thompson out of the starting lineup for the first time since March 2012. Even after missing two-and-a-half seasons with injuries to his Achilles tendon and his ACL, Thompson still always started whenever he played.

Until Thursday in Salt Lake City. 

Thompson started the game on the bench, behind rookie Brandin Podziemski, but he didn’t stay there long. Thompson entered five minutes into the game, and scored 10 points on six shots before the quarter was up.

He was great for three quarters, scoring 35 points in 18 minutes, hitting seven of his 13 three-point attempts as the Warriors took an 18-point lead going into the final quarter.

After Utah opened the fourth with a 13-3 run, Thompson and the starters returned, but he missed all four of his shots in the quarter as Golden State held on to win 140-137.

After the game, Steve Kerr said the Warriors would continue with bringing Thompson off the bench.

Thompson seemed to accept the move, telling reporters, “You can pout or you can go out there and respond.” He added, “I thought I did the latter very well tonight.”

He also cited the success of Manu Ginobili and said he “deserved” to be benched.

With the victory, the Warriors moved 2.5 games ahead of the Jazz for the West’s final play-in spot going into the All-Star break. They may be going into the playoffs with a highly overqualified new sixth man.