Klay will play Game 2 vs. Grizz after injury report scare originally appeared on NBC Sports Bayarea
MEMPHIS, Tenn. — After a regular season of watching both stars and role players shelved for stretches long and short, the last thing Warriors fans want to see is players pop up on the injury report in the NBA playoffs. Especially Klay Thompson, with what he has been through the last three years.
Even though he was listed as just probable on Monday’s injury report with right knee soreness following the Warriors’ 117-116 Game 1 win over the Memphis Grizzlies in the Western Conference semifinals, Dub Nation held its collective breath fearing that Thompson could be dealing with another leg issue. Exhale and wipe away any sweat.
Thompson will play in Tuesday night’s Game 2 at FedExForum.
“He just banged his knee,” Steve Kerr said Tuesday at shootaround. “He’s fine, he’s good to go.”
During shootaround, Thompson wore a compression sleeve on his right leg but moved around the court as he always does. This also isn’t the same knee that he sustained a torn ACL in Game 6 of the 2019 NBA Finals. That was his right knee.
It would take quite the injury for Thompson to miss a playoff game at this point, and he made it clear he’ll be on the floor and doesn’t expect to be held back one bit.
“I feel great,” Thompson said.
The sharpshooter couldn’t recall which play he banged his knee on in the series opener, though he says he now feels “really good.” Kerr didn’t point out a single play either, but there’s a good chance it came in the final minute of the Warriors’ victory when Thompson and Grizzlies guard Dillon Brooks fought for a loose ball.
As Thompson stepped up to snatch the ball with the Warriors down by two, Brooks’ body turned and flew right into Thompson’s right leg/knee before the two went to the ground and wrestled for the ball.
This very-well could be why Klay Thompson is listed as probable for Game 2 with âright knee soreness.â Dillon Brooks flies into his right leg/knee on the loose ball in the final minute of the Warriorsâ Game 1 win pic.twitter.com/oDmY85yRey
— Dalton Johnson (@DaltonJ_Johnson) May 3, 2022
Just 6.3 seconds later, Thompson drained the go-ahead 3-pointer that wound up being the game-winner for the Warriors to give them a huge early series lead on the road.
Kerr and Thompson both said they expect an extremely physical game from the Grizzlies come Tuesday night. Memphis knows going down two-games-to-none to the Warriors could spell the end of its season in no time. On the other side, the Warriors know just how important taking these two games from the Grizzlies on the road would be in their chase for another championship.
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In the Warriors’ Game 1 win, Thompson scored only 15 points while shooting 5-for-13 from the field and 1-for-6 from 3-point range. But in Golden State’s first-round series win against the Denver Nuggets, he increased his scoring totals in the first four games, putting up 19 points in to start, then 21, 26 and 32 before dropping 15 to close them out in Game 5.
Look for him to be firing early with his eyes on a bounce-back shooting night, all while the Warriors try to match the Grizzlies’ physicality on both sides of the floor.