The Golden State Warriors absorbed yet another loss Tuesday night, as they fell prey to the Kevin Durant-less Phoenix Suns on the road. The Warriors went toe to tow with the hosts until the end, but they did not have one of their key players on the floor down the stretch, with Klay Thompson getting benched in crunch time by head coach Steve Kerr.
Klay Thompson was nowhere to be seen late in Warriors vs Suns
Following the 119-116 loss to Phoenix, Thompson shared his true feelings about getting denied the chance to help the Warriors in the clutch.
“Of course it frustrates me. You think I’m going to chill? I’m friggin’ competitive. At the end of the day I’m one of the most competitive people to put this uniform on,” Thompson said (h/t Shayna Rubin of the Mercury News).
At the same time, Thompson perfectly understands why Kerr opted to keep him benched, which had a lot to do with his level of play.
“I deserved to be benched tonight I played like crap. 20 games in and I got to catch a rhythm. Give credit to our bench though. They played awesome, guys are stepping up.”
Thompson played just a total of 5:41 minutes in the fourth quarter, during which he was a minus-3 on the floor and missed the only field goal shot he attempted. Brandin Podziemski and Moses Moody enjoyed ample minutes in the final period instead, playing for 10:41 and 6:59 minutes, respectively during the frame.
Kerr noted in the postgame press conference that he was not happy with the effort he saw from some of his players, and Thompson likely was among those whose play on the court frustrated the head coach.
Thompson concluded his night with just seven points in a salty 2-for-10 shooting from the floor in 27 minutes.
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