The Golden State Warriors have worked their way to a third consecutive NBA Finals appearance behind an unblemished run through the Western Conference holding a 12-o record.
Despite that, Hall of Famer and former Warriors great Rick Barry is concerned with the play of All-Star guard Klay Thompson up to this point in the postseason, according to The Mercury News' Daniel Mano.
“Look, let me bring something up that needs to be done: I’m hoping that the Warriors have figured out a way to get Klay back on his game,” Barry told The Greg Papa Show. “Because Klay is taking bad shots (and) they’re not executing well to get him some good looks early.”
Thompson's shooting struggles in the playoffs have been overshadowed by the Warriors' dominance. However, the 27-year-0ld hasn't played at the high level that has become expected from him over the years as he's only averaging 14.4 points on 38.3 percent shooting from the field and 36.4 percent from beyond the arc. These are significant drops from his career averages of 45.3 and 41.9 percent respectively from each distance.
He has had much difficulty finding any consistency shooting the ball hitting over 50 percent from the field in just one game while posting just two 20-point performances. Thompson's struggles have in turn led him to force up shots in hopes of finding his stroke.
Although Thompson's shooting woes are a definite concern, the play of his teammates heading into the NBA Finals has created much optimism around the team's chances against the Cleveland Cavaliers. Stephen Curry is playing at an MVP level averaging a postseason-leading 28.6 points while scoring 20 points in 10 straight games.
Meanwhile, Kevin Durant is averaging 25.2 points on 55.6 percent shooting from the field while scoring 25 or more points on six occasions. If the Warriors can find a way to get Thompson back on track, it could very well be one of the deciding factors in the 2017 NBA Finals.
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