The Golden State Warriors have had their issues this season. But they can breathe a little easier now that they’ve clinched a play-in spot and held off the Houston Rockets in the process. The Warriors picked up a huge win against the Los Angeles Lakers on Tuesday, giving them the possibility of moving up to the ninth seed in the Western Conference. During a segment of Shaquille O’Neal’s podcast, ‘The Big Podcast with Shaq,’ O’Neal suggested that Warriors guard Klay Thompson would have a major impact in the postseason.
“Klay Thompson, for a guy like that all I need is two games because everybody is going to do what they do, but if you get Klay to give me two games. And then you know what I know and respect about Klay, he ain’t no punk, so you know, dogs when you have them in a corner they’ll give you (dog pouting noise), but when they get tired, then they’ll bite,” Shaquille O’Neal said. “So right now everybody’s killing them. Oh, you’re coming off the bench, you lost it, you lost it. He’s still playing, all it takes is like one of those games where his elbow is tucked in and he’s feeling it and everybody is counting them out, so Golden State.”
Should the Warriors move up past the Lakers and into the ninth seed, they’ll host their first round play-in game. But should they remain in the tenth seed, they’ll be on the road for the play-in. Last season, the Warriors made the playoff outright by securing the No. 6 seed in the West.
They survived a tough, seven game series against the Sacramento Kings in the first round before falling in six games to the Lakers in the second round. This season, Klay Thompson has perhaps the most on the line during the playoffs.
Klay Thompson’s future with the Warriors could depend on playoff performance
Just like with the Warriors overall, Klay Thompson has had an inconsistent season. He began the season in usual spot as the Warriors starting shooting guard, but amid his struggles, he was ultimately moved to the bench. Most recently, Thompson has been back in the starting lineup for the Warriors past eight games.
Against the Lakers, Thompson went off for 27 points on 10-16 shooting from the field and 5-10 shooting from three point range. He also had three assists, one steal and one blocked shot. He’s been averaging 17.7 points per game, 3.3 rebounds and 2.3 assists with splits of 43.3 percent shooting from the field, 38.6 percent shooting from the three point line and 92.2 percent shooting from the free throw line.
HaThompson has a lot riding on the playoffs as he is set to become an unrestricted free agent at the end of the season. The Warriors and Thompson technically don’t have a deadline to agree to a contract extension before the season’s end, but the fact that it hasn’t happened yet is a bit concerning.
Should Thompson hit free agency, which is looking likely, he will no doubt draw interest from other teams around the NBA. A big playoff performance, as Shaq suggests, could impact what kind of contract he ultimately signs in the offseason.
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