From “Slight bit of 9 v 10 play-in redemption for Klay Thompson tonight” to “Klay Thompson just went off when his team needed it most”, everyone from Anthony Slater to former NBA player Michael Redd was in praise of Klay Thompson. The former Warriors star hadn’t been too impressive in his debut season with the Dallas Mavericks, since the 14 points he averaged throughout 72 games was his worst average score since his rookie season. His not being able to come out as the lead scorer, combined with Luka Doncic’s trade and Kyrie Irving’s injury, left a gap on the offensive front, which resulted in the Mavs ending up in the Play-In. However, Thompson turned up when needed the most, and he couldn’t be more glad about that. After all, his recent performance helped him to overcome a mental scar.

In the aftermath of the Dallas Mavericks’ 120-106 win against the Sacramento Kings, Klay Thompson was interviewed by SportsCenter’s Scott Van Pelt. As the conversation concluded, the star of the night bid adieu by stating, “Thanks Scott. It did feel good to exorcize those demons in here, man”. Van Pelt laughed at this remark and replied, “I bet it did, I bet it did”.

“Exorcise those demons” is certainly one way to describe what Klay Thompson managed to do in his most recent game. The player went above his regular-season average and made good use of his 33 minutes on the court to score a memorable 23 points, 5 rebounds, and 2 assists. He was surprisingly efficient on the shooting front, as he recorded 8-11 (72.7%) field goals, 5-7 (71.4%) 3-pointers, and 2-2 (100.0%) free throws. You have to remember that this is the same player who, throughout 15 games in March, had averaged 38.9% field goals and 35.3% 3-pointers. His situation only slightly improved in April, as Thompson averaged 42.5% field goals and 40.0% 3-pointers in 5 games. If Thompson was possessed, well then, the dark spirits have certainly left him. At least temporarily.

The streak of bad luck, which Thompson believed was due to those ‘demons’, has been following the player since his final days with the Golden State Warriors. In fact, it was only last year when Thompson was part of another Play-In game as the Warriors competed against the Sacramento Kings. Stephen Curry’s ‘Splash Brother’ went scoreless in that matchup, and could only add 4 rebounds and 1 assist to the overall score. Thompson recorded this abysmal score not because of a lack of trying, but rather a lack of success. After all, he shot 0-10 (0.0%) field goals, 0-6 (0.0%) 3-pointers, and 0-0 (0%) free throws. The 5x NBA All-Star then repeated his 0-point blunder during a Mavericks-Nuggets game in November 2024. Amidst all this, even fans would have been wishing that Klay Thompson catches a break. Fortunately, their wishes have been heard.

Klay Thompson would not have gotten this break if he hadn’t received some help. Thompson did not share more information about this. However, Jason Kidd was willing to highlight the ‘assists’ the shooter got in the recent game.

Jason Kidd credits Anthony Davis and other guards for aiding Klay Thompson’s scoring

During the post-game presser, Jason Kidd certainly gave his flowers to Klay Thompson. The head coach would have certainly breathed a sigh of relief that not only did the Mavericks secure a spot in the playoffs, but it was Thompson, along with Anthony Davis, who led the scoring effort for the team. However, Kidd also highlighted that Thompson would not stand today, proudly stating that he got rid of his demons if Anthony Davis and others hadn’t come to his aid.

“We talked about it before, try to get him some shots early. I thought he had great looks that didn’t go down, but he continued to keep, uh, playing and continue to, uh, make plays for others. And when you do that, good things happen, and I thought him being able to go in that second quarter with AD setting screens, and our guards being able to find him, um, he had great rhythm, looks, and uh, he helped build that lead,” said Kidd. He also added that, “But he’s a pro, as I said before the game. We believe that he’s going to make the shots tonight, and he did.”

Anyone who has played NBA 2K knows how hard it can be to break the defense to make a layup unless you have a reliable teammate setting screens for you. If fans know something about Anthony Davis, he can be relied upon to set them screens. After all, the veteran ranks 18th in screen assists set during the 2024-25 NBA season, having averaged 3.1 per game. He ranks 19th in screen assists points, having averaged 7.3 per game.

Besides Anthony Davis, players like Dante Exum and Brandon Williams also came out on top, recording 6 and 5 assists, respectively. Everyone did their part to give Klay Thompson a break.

Do you believe that we can expect to see such performance from Klay Thompson again in the playoff,s too? Let us know in the comments section down below.