DALASUS – Clay Thompson has rejoined the Warriors on Wednesday in Texas after missing the previous two games due to illness. Although he was named as controversial for Thursday’s game against the Mavericks, Thompson was clear that he came to Lone Star State for one reason.
“I play,” the Warriors guard told reporters after training, through Anthony Slater of The Athletic. “I didn’t come all the way to Dallas to watch.”
The Warriors lost both games with Thompson out of the squad. They conceded a 21-point lead over Mavericks on Sunday in San Francisco and remained tied with a 129-115 loss to the Minnesota Timberwolves on Tuesday.
Thompson said he started to feel bad after the Warriors’ victory over the Portland Trail Blazers last Thursday, but he finally felt better.
“I had a severe headache after Thursday night’s game,” Thompson said. “I just got really sick. It sucks. Maybe you want to keep your distance, to be honest. These things suck.”
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Thompson watched the Warriors take the lead over Dallas and find themselves relatively uncompetitive against the T-Wolves in Minnesota. After he and Draymond Green left, Thompson realized that the weight on Steph Curry’s shoulder was increasing tenfold.
“He will see a lot of double teams and a lot of attention,” said Thompson. “I hate that feeling because you want to be able to help your team. We have not yet seen our full team. It has a silver lining. ”
After a 941-day absence from the court, Thompson was disappointed to miss more time, especially as the Warriors entered a brutal part of the schedule, playing with eight teams for the playoffs or a 13-day caliber game.
“It sucks when you look, man,” Thompson said. “I’ve watched a lot in the last few years and you just feel helpless. I hate this.”
Thompson slowly settled into his furrow after returning from a torn ACL and a torn Achilles. In his last seven games, Thompson has averaged 19.3 points per game, while shooting 44.8 percent off the field and 45.6 percent off distance with a true shooting rate of 60.0.
Finally in one stream, Thompson is eager to upgrade this recent stretch when he came out on the court on Thursday.
With the Warriors slipping and Curry having to take on a huge burden, Thompson’s return will be a welcome sight for a team that is still looking for ways to get out of the downturn that has engulfed them for most of the 2022 calendar year.
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