{"id":15558,"date":"2018-05-31T13:00:25","date_gmt":"2018-05-31T18:00:25","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/myboysay.com\/blog\/?p=15558"},"modified":"2018-05-31T17:10:50","modified_gmt":"2018-05-31T22:10:50","slug":"golden-states-klay-thompson-is-poised-to-have-a-big-nba-finals-an-mvp-final-series","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/myboysay.com\/blog\/?p=15558","title":{"rendered":"THE GOLDEN STATE WARRIORS “KLAY THOMPSON” IS DUE TO HAVE A 2018 NBA MVP FINALS PERFORMANCE"},"content":{"rendered":"
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With the undeniable star power of Durant and Curry, Thompson is often the Warriors\u2019 forgotten star.<\/strong><\/p>\n

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But Thompson \u2014 the Warriors\u2019 best two-way player is the linchpin of a team that is looking for its third title in four years.<\/strong><\/p>\n

He proved it \u2014 yet again \u2014 in the Western Conference Finals.<\/strong><\/p>\n

And you should expect him to continue making his case in the NBA Finals, which start tonight.<\/strong><\/p>\n

The national media loves to speculate on how Thompson would perform if he was on another team. Perhaps he\u2019d get the respect he deserves if he had \u201chis own\u201d squad.<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

But the truth is that the pairing of Thompson and the Warriors is perfect.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Thompson\u2019s precise and, at times, persistent movement is critical to Golden State\u2019s motion attack. That was made wildly apparent in the direst situation these Warriors have faced in the last two years.<\/strong><\/p>\n

In Game 6 of the Western Conference Finals, the Warriors were struggling to find a balance between a Durant isolation-based offense and a Curry-led motion attack in the Western Conference Finals, and it was Thompson who bridged the gap.<\/strong><\/p>\n

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In retrospect, it seems so obvious that when neither Durant nor Curry can find a rhythm, the Warriors should feed the ball to Thompson, but the wing\u2019s performance in that elimination game victory was a revelation at the time.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Thompson cut through the physical and switching Houston defense like an icebreaker. His nine 3-pointers swung that game in the Warriors\u2019 favor, but it was the manner in which he worked himself open that proved most important to the Warriors\u2019 series win. Thompson\u2019s play reintroduced verve to the Golden State offense, pulling defensive attention away from Durant and giving Curry space to operate on the perimeter.<\/strong><\/p>\n

And when all three are clicking, the Warriors are next to impossible to beat.<\/strong><\/p>\n

\"Golden<\/strong>
Golden State Warriors\u2019 Stephen Curry (30) and Klay Thompson (11) celebrate in the first quarter of Game 4 of the NBA Western Conference finals against the Houston Rockets at Oracle Arena in Oakland, Calif., on Tuesday, May 22, 2018. (Nhat V. Meyer\/Bay Area News Group)\u00a0<\/strong><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The Warriors will try to get that going again the Cavs, who might try to take a page out of the Rockets\u2019 defensive playbook and play a hyper-physical game in an effort to knock the Warriors off their game.<\/strong><\/p>\n

If that happens, expect Thompson to unlock the Warriors\u2019 offense again.<\/strong><\/p>\n

The defensive matchups alone dictate that Thompson should have a big offensive series.<\/strong><\/p>\n

James will likely spend a good deal of time guarding Durant (who else on the Cavs could?) and the underrated George Hill will be on Curry in these NBA Finals. That leaves Kyle Korver or J.R. Smith to guard Thompson, and that\u2019s not even close to a fair matchup.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Thompson should feast on open 3-pointers in these NBA Finals, and that, in turn, should open up opportunities for the Warriors\u2019 star players to score in bunches as well.<\/strong><\/p>\n

When it rains, it pours.<\/strong><\/p>\n

The Warriors will also be counting on Thompson to turn in solid shifts on the defensive side of the court in the NBA Finals, just as they did against Houston, when was a frequently marking James Harden.<\/strong><\/p>\n

It should go without saying, but the Warriors\u2019 top defensive task against the Cavs is slowing down James. (You can\u2019t really stop him.)<\/strong><\/p>\n

The Warriors\u2019 strategy against James is to throw a variety of looks his way \u2014 to make him go against all different shapes and sizes.<\/strong><\/p>\n

The goal is to prevent James from reaching a flow state \u2014 to make him think, even if just for a moment, every time he touches the ball.<\/strong><\/p>\n

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James is one of the smartest players to ever pick up a basketball, but it\u2019s hard to develop a rhythm when you\u2019re constantly having to run through scouting reports in your mind.<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u201cLeBron is a very cerebral player,\u201d Iguodala said Wednesday. \u201cHe does a very good job of always being a threat, whether he\u2019s on the ball or off the ball. He does a really good job of making his teammates threats at any given time. So you\u2019ve got to stay locked in.\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n

So Draymond Green is going to put in shifts against James. Durant is going to see plenty of time against LBJ, too. Jordan Bell, Nick Young, and Shaun Livingston might end up toe-to-toe with the King, if only for a few possessions, and he\u2019ll no doubt try to isolate onto Curry or Kevon Looney when they\u2019re on the court.<\/strong><\/p>\n

But if any of these NBA Finals games are close in the fourth quarter and the Warriors need a defensive stop, it\u2019ll likely be Thompson who matches up with James.<\/strong><\/p>\n

\"Golden<\/strong>
Golden State Warriors\u2019 Klay Thompson (11) warms up before the start of Game 2 of the NBA Western Conference finals against the Houston Rockets at Toyota Center in Houston, Texas, on Wednesday, May 16, 2018. (Anda Chu\/Bay Area News Group)\u00a0<\/strong><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Iguodala\u2019s defense against James was a major factor in him winning the NBA Finals MVP award in 2015.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Could it do the same for Thompson in 2018?<\/strong><\/p>\n

Durant is currently the favorite to win NBA Finals MVP \u2014 he\u2019s going off at 5-to-7 odds. Curry, who has never won an NBA Finals MVP \u2014 the only blemish on his nearly perfect resume \u2014 has 9-to-5 odds.<\/strong><\/p>\n

But if you were to head to the Westgate Las Vegas SuperBook today, you could pick Thompson to win the award at 20-to-1.<\/strong><\/p>\n

If this series goes the way I expect it to \u2014 with the Warriors winning the title in five games \u2014 and given the opportunity at hand and the responsibilities Thompson carries, those odds could look like a hilarious \u2014 and possibly lucrative \u2014 miscalculation in a few weeks.<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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