Klay Thompson Injury News: Warriors G To Return Tuesday
Klay Thompson missed the Golden State Warriors matchup against the Phoenix Suns due to a sprained hand, but should be back Tuesday.
When you start the season as hot as Klay Thompson has, the last thing you want is an injury — especially an injury to your shooting hand. Such is life for the Golden State Warriors shooting guard, as he missed the Warriors Sunday night matchup against the Suns with a sprained right hand.
Leandro Barbosa started in place of Thompson and while he’s a serviceable shooting guard — he scored 12 points — he can’t replace the 23.8 points per game that Thompson is averaging this year.
Luckily for Warriors fans, Rotowire notes that Thompson stated he’s 100 percent sure about playing Tuesday night against the San Antonio Spurs. Leaving the lockerroom in Phoenix, Thompson didn’t have a wrap or anything on his hand, so it appears as if he’ll be good to go Tuesday.
The Dubs got a look at what life would be without Thompson on the court against the Suns — and life wasn’t nearly as easy for Stephen Curry. Playing on the back half of a back-to-back, the Warriors ran out of steam and played one of the sloppiest games they’ve played…since the previous night.
Before turning the ball over 26 times on Saturday against the Rockets — then 26 more times Sunday against the Suns — the Warriors hadn’t turned the ball over that many times since November 24th, 2006 in a road loss to the Denver Nuggets.
The fact is, without Thompson on the court to help spread the floor, Curry continues to face double teams and shading that he wouldn’t face with Thompson out there. The Suns were afforded the luxury to back off of Andrew Bogut as well, which meant they could really put the pressure on Curry any time he got close to the lane. The result was 10 turnovers for Curry and the first loss of the season for the Warriors.
Thompson will be back Tuesday and shouldn’t have any lingering effects. With all of the injuries the Warriors have faced in the frontcourt, they should thank their lucky stars for that.