Klay Thompson faced his long-time teammate Steph Curry with the Dallas Mavericks (5-6) for the first time in his career – and had to admit defeat to the former “Splash Brother” at his old place of work. “It hurts to be on the other side when he makes it rain like that,” Thompson said after the narrow 117-120 defeat in which Curry scored the last twelve points for the Warriors (9-2): ” He ran really hot at the end and hit some crazy shots.”
Competing against Curry was strange. “It felt pretty surreal at first,” said Thompson, who previously only knew this experience from the national team or from various all-star games. However, there was never any serious conflict there. After a few minutes it was “just basketball,” said Thompson.
Curry had a similar view: “It was definitely a pretty surreal evening, but luckily we were all able to concentrate on the game and just play basketball.”
In addition to a video tribute to Thompson, the 34-year-old also received a “warm” reception from Golden State Warriors fans and staff. “It was a cool experience, I really appreciate it,” said Thompson, who didn’t want to take it for granted: “I’ll never forget it.”
In the end, Thompson was also annoyed that the Mavs had lost another close game. “I hope we learn from this,” he said, visibly annoyed. The man primarily responsible for the defeat naturally saw things differently. “I couldn’t have asked for a better night all around,” exclaimed Curry after saying goodnight to the Mavs.
