Klay Thompson isn't playing against the Houston Rockets on Saturday, listed as out due to injury management just as he's been on either side of every back-to-back the Golden State Warriors have played this season.
Before Steve Kerr spoke with reporters prior to tipoff, the prevailing assumption was that Thompson wouldn't play two games in as many days at any point this season. But the Warriors coach expressed optimism for the first time that the 32-year-old would ultimately be cleared to participate in back-to-backs, just the latest encouraging sign in Thompson's arduous and ongoing re-acclimation from a pair of devastating lower-body injuries.
“Klay Thompson is out today (back to back) but Warriors coach Steve Kerr says there probably ‘will come a time when he plays back-to-backs’ later this season,” Monte Poole of NBC Sports Bay Area tweeted. “The hope is that he’ll be cleared in the coming months.”
Thompson returned last January from two-and-a-half seasons lost to a torn ACL in his left knee and ruptured right Achilles tendon. Though he understandably never reached peak levels after finally getting back on the floor, Thompson nevertheless played a pivotal role on Golden State's run another championship last season, saving his best basketball for the playoffs.
The expectation was that he'd pick up where he left off in 2022-23, building off his first healthy summer since 2018. But Thompson intentionally avoided scrimmaging all offseason and didn't participate in training camp 5-on-5 until a week before tipoff of the regular season, contributing to his rough early-season slump.
He's emerged from those depths over the last two weeks, in part due to a more measured, patient offensive approach following a players-only meeting and subsequent one-on-one chat with Draymond Green. Thompson is averaging 21.6 points and shooting a 46.4% from deep on nearly 10 attempts in his last seven games, a stretch in which Golden State has righted early-season the ship to go 6-1.
The Warriors don't need Thompson to beat the Rockets. Rest assured they'll always take a big-picture approach to his health, too. But Golden State's slow start means it may be faced with pivotal late-season games to improve playoff seeding, when Thompson's newfound ability to play both sides of a back-to-back could make a major difference.
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