– by Adesina O. Koiki
A Lot of Sports Talk editor-in-chief
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WASHINGTON — Siblings are supposed to have each others’ backs when one is down, so it was on-brand once again for the Golden State Warriors that, when one of the Splash Brothers was having an all-time struggle to start tonight’s game that the other came through — not that that hasn’t happened one or 20 times during the illustrious careers of Steph Curry and Klay Thompson.
Of course, one big difference is that one of them has gone from one-time permanent starter to a super sub, a move that has coincided with one of the best stretches of play got Golden State this season.
Thompson scored 25.points as he continues to thrive in a reserve role, as his scoring helped to offset a scoreless first half from Curry as the Warriors defeated the Washington Wizards 123-112 inside Capital One Arena on Tuesday evening. Another backcourt player for the Warriors, made his return to the lineup after seven weeks out due to a fractured left hand and recorded nine points and six assists in 21 minutes.
Thompson scored 13 of his points in the third quarter, a period that saw the Warriors extend their two-point halftime lead by outscoring the Wizards 38-17. He made four of his shots shots from three in the period, with two of those shot makes being assisted by Paul, who also was a reserve.
“You’ve got two Hall of Famers in the backcourt coming off the bench,” Thompson said. “That’s such a rare feat, so we take pride in that.”
The Warriors improved to 6-1 in games over the past month in which Thompson has come off the bench.
Golden State held a 60-58 lead at half despite Curry missing all seven of his shots from the field in the first half while going scoreless in the game’s first 24 minutes for the first time since Nov. 23, 2012 against Denver. HE his his first shot of the third quarter, 53 seconds in, to break the drought, and eventually ended the night with 18 points.
“You know he’s going to make shots at some point,” Wizards interim coach Brian Keefe said. “You know that’s going to happen. … He was 0 of 6 on 3-pointers in the first. That’s not something you’re going to count on that’s going to sustain.”
*Editor’s note: Above the byline is the photo gallery from Tuesday evening’s event, with all photos taken by DC-area photographer Clifford Ray Williams. After clicking on the first photo to enlarge the picture, make sure to press the left and right arrow buttons to scroll through the rest of the pictures. There are 27 pictures in total.
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