Klay Thompson was on the bench down the stretch of the Golden State Warriors loss at the Phoenix Suns on Tuesday. Thompson said it felt “strange” to be on the bench in the clutch, but that it was “deserved”.
Thompson said, “I’ve been playing like crap” when asked about not being in the game late. He said Warriors coach Steve Kerr didn’t give him an explanation for the benching, but that he doesn’t need one either.
“I trust Steve. I trust Steve now and forever will,” Thompson said.
The veteran guard is in the midst of the worst season of his career. Thompson is shooting under 40% from the field for the first time, as he’s at 39.7% on the season. Thompson is also at a career-worst from behind the arc at 34.3%. That’s led to the long-time Warrior averaging 15.4 points, which is Thompson’s lowest mark since his rookie season.
The Los Angeles Lakers’ victory over the Indiana Pacers in the In-Season Tournament Final drew 4.6 million viewers across ABC/ESPN2.
The game was the most-watched non-playoff, non-Christmas Day game since 2018.
The audience for the NBA In-Season Tournament Championship Game was also up 64 percent from last season’s NBA Saturday Primetime on ABC average.
The NBA reportedly has interest in selling the In-Season Tournament to a streaming company as a separate media rights package.
Erik Spoelstra cautioned that no one should read into Bam Adebayo accompanying the team on their current road trip. Spoelstra stressed that there is no timetable for when Adebayo will return from the hip injury he’s dealing with.
“I wouldn’t read too much into it of him being on this trip other than he really wanted to be here and he can do his work. So, it’s good,” Spoelstra said.
Adebayo has missed Miami’s last four games and five out of the Heat’s last seven contests. This is the second time the Heat’s All-Star center has dealt with hip soreness. The first time was last March. Adebayo didn’t miss any games, but was noted on the injury report several times.
