© Richard Mackson-USA TODAY Sports
LOS ANGELES – This has been one of the more relaxing road trips the Warriors will ever take. They took the short flight down the coast with many players bringing their family members, and Klay Thompson bringing his dog, Rocco (who may or may not have, but definitely did, defecate on the floor of the Warriors’ hotel), for a five-day trip to Los Angeles. The relaxation levels were so high that Steve Kerr was concerned for his team’s hydration this morning.
Here are five notes from a weird 130-111 Warriors’ win over the Lakers:
LA-Klay Thompson, leading dunk contest candidate and decent shooter
This was one of the most Klay Thompson nights you’ll ever see. The man, who we all know as one of the NBA’s most prolific, high-flying dunkers, was absolutely unconscious from 3-point range tonight, and incorporated some Klay-isms while doing it. Most importantly, his dunk totals are through the roof:
Warriors up 10 at halftime in LA. Klay Thompson the high scorer: 21 points + his seventh dunk in four games.
— Anthony Slater (@anthonyVslater) January 22, 2019
Early on, Thompson slammed down one of his classic MONSTER dunks on this unbelievably disjointed fast break:
KD and Draymond on the floor leads to a Klay dunk. pic.twitter.com/DpcJ9UXssf
— TheWarriorsTalk (@TheWarriorsTalk) January 22, 2019
Jokes aside, we all know that when Thompson gets hot, he heats up to a volcanic temperature. He hit his first 10 shots from 3-point range – an NBA record – and even had a 3-pointer called off for stepping out of bounds, which would have been his 11th. He finished with 44 points on 17-of-20 shooting, with 3 rebounds and 2 assists. According to Anthony Slater, Thompson’s 3-point percentage on the season rose drastically with this performance:
Klay Thompson 10-of-11 from 3, has jumped his season 3-point percentage from 36.5 to 38.1 in one night.
— Anthony Slater (@anthonyVslater) January 22, 2019
But what’s surely more important than his stats are the way in which he gets them. In addition to slamming home rim-rattling jams like the one above, Thompson added some additional flair, flashing money signs to Floyd “Money” Mayweather in the crowd tonight after one of his 10 threes. His dog, Rocco, also added his own flair this weekend, when he pooped on the floor of the Warriors’ hotel:
Klay perfect from 3 and flashing money sings at Floyd Mayweather courtside pic.twitter.com/qw192PUkNL
— Rob Perez (@WorldWideWob) January 22, 2019
It’s a hydration situation
This morning, head coach Steve Kerr said he was impressed by the Warriors’ improvements as of late, but he was also concerned about their levels of hydration. For those of you who know how to read between the lines, this was the Warriors’ fourth day in Los Angeles, and they had two days – including a full day without practice – between Friday night’s game against the Clippers and tonight’s game against the injury depleted Lakers.
That gave the Warriors plenty of time for some healthy recreation, and an engagement (see below):
Kerr: “We’ve been in LA for four days, we’ll see which team shows up… hope everyone drank lots of water.” pic.twitter.com/K2ayaYZM2c
— KNBR (@KNBR) January 21, 2019
Draymond getting another ring
If you watched the clip above, there was one statement that Kerr slipped in cleverly after making the joke about the Warriors needing to stay hydrated: Draymond Green got engaged this weekend. Green, who has two kids – a daughter, Kyra, and a son, Draymond Jr. – got engaged to his now-fiancee, Hazel Renee.
Green put up 5 points, 7 assists, 3 rebounds and 3 steals tonight with just one turnover, on one of those nights, like many, in which he will receive little credit, but provides that reliable impact on both sides of the floor. For the full story on Green’s engagement, click here.
Kentavious Caldwell-Pope making big-time business decisions
Caldwell-Pope is a well-known client of Klutch Sports Group, the same sports agency run by Rich Paul, who is one of LeBron James’ closest friends and associates. One thing that James and other Klutch clients are known for is making smart business decisions. Granted, Caldwell-Pope turned down a five-year, $80 million offer from the Pistons a few years back, but he seems to have learned from that horrid decision.
With Kevin Durant barreling down the lane on the way to a one-handed dunk, Caldwell-Pope made way, sprinting off from sure disaster in, as John Locke said, the, “… pursuit of life, liberty and property”:
KD ?????
— Warriors on NBCS (@NBCSWarriors) January 22, 2019
“See it’s a West coast thing”
On Friday night, the Clippers treated fans to a halftime performance from Compton native, Coolio. Tonight, Long Beach legend Snoop Dogg was an honorary captain for the Lakers. While Snoop gave no such performance, he did make a fantastic appearance on TNT when he was interviewed by Kristen Ledlow:
"Whatup, Shaq!"@KristenLedlow checked in with @SnoopDogg to talk about the @Lakers squad. pic.twitter.com/Z1f6N0iMr2
— NBA on TNT (@NBAonTNT) January 22, 2019
As Snoop rapped on “Gz and Hustlas” on his debut masterpiece of an album, “Doggystyle,” some things are unique to the West Coast. The relaxed nature of this road trip and the appearances of two West Coast hip-hop legends were uniquely West Coast. As Snoop rapped, “See, it’s a West Coast thing.” Granted, Snoop was talking about smoking with Zig-Zag papers, but if anything, that reaffirms the point.