DALLAS -- Klay Thompson rejoined the Warriors on Wednesday in Texas after missing the previous two games with an illness. Despite being listed as questionable for Thursday's game against the Mavericks, Thompson was clear he came to the Lone Star State for one reason.
“I’m playing,” the Warriors guard told reporters after practice, via The Athletic's Anthony Slater. “I didn’t come all the way to Dallas to watch.”
The Warriors lost both games with Thompson out of the lineup. They blew a 21-point lead to the Mavericks on Sunday in San Francisco and were flat in a 129-115 road loss to the Minnesota Timberwolves on Tuesday.
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SIGN UP HERE Thompson said he started feeling bad after the Warriors' win over the Portland Trail Blazers last Thursday night, but he's finally feeling better.
"After the game Thursday night, I had a raging headache," Thompson said. "Just got really sick. It sucks. You guys might want to keep your distance, to be honest. This stuff sucks."
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Thompson watched the Warriors blow the lead to Dallas and be relatively non-competitive against the T-Wolves in Minnesota. With both he and Draymond Green out, Thompson understands that the burden placed on Steph Curry's shoulder increases tenfold.
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“He’s going to see a lot of double teams and a lot of attention,” Thompson said. “I hate that feeling because you want to be able to help your team. We still haven’t seen our team at full yet. There’s a silver lining.”
After 941 days away from the court, Thompson was frustrated that he missed more time, especially as the Warriors enter a brutal stretch of the schedule in which they play eight playoff- or play-in-caliber teams in 13 days.
“Sucks when you watch, man,” Thompson said. “Been doing a lot of watching the last few years, and you just feel helpless. I hate that.”
Thompson has slowly settled into his groove since returning from a torn ACL and a torn Achilles. Over his last seven games, Thompson is averaging 19.3 points per game while shooting 44.8 percent from the field and 45.6 percent from distance with a true shooting percentage of 60.0.
Finally in a flow, Thompson is eager to build on that recent stretch when he takes the court Thursday.
With the Warriors sliding and Curry having to shoulder an immense burden, Thompson's return will be a welcome sight for a team still looking for ways to snap out of a slump that has consumed them for the better part of the 2022 calendar year.