The Denver Nuggets shut down the Golden State Warriors in their blockbuster matchup yesterday. It was another Nikola Jokic triple-double party that helped carry Denver over the streaking hot Bay. Stephen Curry had a tough night in the battle of the stars, but Klay Thompson seemed to be in the zone. At least in the first half where he 23. Later on, his fire would dim, scoring 0 points in the second half. Jamal Murray and Jokic’s pick-and-roll game outplayed the Warriors, whose anchor had a rough day at the office shooting the ball. Draymond Green set up the camera for another episode of his show to discuss the loss against the defending champions.

While admitting Nikola Jokić gave him horrors, he also felt responsible for Klay’s scoreless second half.

Draymond Green takes accountability for dimming Klay Thompson

Due to the relentless criticism and a decline in his abilities, Klay Thompson has embraced a role to come off the bench. Since then he has looked happier, and he is slowly starting to feel his game once again. Similar to what he did to Utah, Thompson hit a barrage of shots on the Nuggets in the first half.

He was uncontainable and by far the Warriors’ best scorer. He scored 23 in the first half, which included five threes. It was building up to be one of those special Klay nights where he turns into an unconscious shooting virtuoso. However, that was only the story of the first half. Klay Thompson would end up going scoreless in the second half. But it was less because of his inability to score and more because the ball just never reached him.

While speaking on the loss, Draymond Green said he was responsible for not utilizing Thompson’s first-half groove. “Klay came off the bench firing in the first half and I think it’s on me. I have to do a better job of making sure he gets more touches in the second half. Although our minutes don’t match up as much as they did before, I think it’s still my role on this team to make sure that he is getting more shots in the second half,” admitted Green.

To understand this, Thompson shot the ball 12 times in the first half, hitting 7. That is the queue for the Warriors to feed the ball to him simply because he had a fluent understanding of distance and his shot was flowing seamlessly. Yet he only shot the ball thrice in the second half. While Green and his minutes don’t match up, they have played together for a decade and know exactly what the other person is thinking.

Green taking accountability and vowing to improve is an uplifting culture within the Warriors camp. The team needs to learn from these mistakes, and when the leader picks out his faults, it encourages others to look back at what they could have done better. That being said, Kerr needs to improve his usage of Klay Thompson, especially when he is in such a dangerous rhythm.

These small adjustments could ultimately have massive consequences in the postseason. The Warriors have been playing brilliantly over the past few weeks. it is largely because Green has become the focal point on both ends of the floor and Thompson’s selflessness could amplify the Warriors’ effectiveness with this group.

Can they figure it out in time and be ready for the playoffs? Let us know your views below.

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