NBA FINALS: CELTICS VS. WARRIORS

June 7, 2022

Klay Thompson

Golden State Warriors

Practice Day

Q. Your first two games you were 10-for-33 shooting. What are you seeing from the Celtics that make things difficult for you?

KLAY THOMPSON: Thanks for reminding me of my delightful shooting percentage [smiling].

But, I mean, when I watched the film, I probably seemed a little rushed. I wasn't underneath my shot. This is nothing I'm immune to. I've been through shooting slumps before. The best part is, it's how you respond.

Come Game 3, I'll probably not do much differently rather than just play with great pace and pump great shots. When I tend to do that, I tend to have a big night.

Most importantly, feels good going 4-for-19 and winning by 20. I'd rather do that than 13-for-19 and lose by 10. Been there, and that's never fun.

Q. What are some of the keys to playing in an environment like TD Garden?

KLAY THOMPSON: Probably not giving away possessions, limiting turnovers, taking great shots. That probably starts with myself. Then playing as hard as we did with Game 2, with that force. We know this team plays very well at home.

Usually on our championship runs, you have to get a road win or two to complete the mission. This is not a new scenario for us. It comes down to just playing that brand of Warrior basketball that allows us to be successful.

Q. Sorry for the oddity of the question. When you go around the NBA, do you ever notice the rims being different at arenas or are they all the same?

KLAY THOMPSON: Hmm. Some might have a little more give than others. Some places the rims might seem a little tighter.

It's rare. I mean, that's a very -- not really. They all seem 10 feet. They all seem the same size and circumference.

I try not to overthink things. The more simple. Seems like the same rim I grew up playing on. These have a little more give, though, especially compared to the rims at recess, the double rims. Those things are stiff.

Q. As you just said, you've been through shooting slumps before, broken out of them. Do you have reference points post-injury comeback that you can lean to as far as I had a bad stretch, I know I can do it because I did it back then?

KLAY THOMPSON: Oh, yeah, definitely. That's the beauty of playing in today's age. You can go on YouTube and look up all your great moments.

For me, it's as recently as round two against the Nuggets, or last round against the Mavs. I haven't had a multiple three-point game throughout the series, but I stuck to the process, eventually I blew the lid off.

For me it's about keeping that same mindset of shooters shoot. I'd rather go down swinging than being gun shy.

Q. When you have gone to YouTube, when was the last time you did that, and what did you call up?

KLAY THOMPSON: That's a great question.

I probably did it yesterday actually. I remember being in college. When you go through a shooting slump, the video guys will pull up a great game of when everything seemed in unison, your body was working so well, that ball was just flowing off your fingertips.

Gosh, probably just YouTube “Game 6 Klay” because there were some very high-pressurized situations I was in. I ended up shooting the ball well. When you can do it when your back is against the wall, you can do it at any given moment. It's just about keeping that mental strong.

Q. You had Horford in the last game. There were a couple times when he tried to post you up, not successfully. What is your mindset when you have a guy like that, a big guy but also tends to shoot threes?

KLAY THOMPSON: I mean, Al killed us that first game. I think him and White were instrumental in their victory.

When I play a big guy like that, you got to get underneath them kind of because they can shoot over the top of you. Use your quickness and try and just -- gosh, I don't want to give away too much of the scouting report. Yeah, use your quickness, play that physical brand of defense that Draymond was playing. That kind of propelled us to a victory. We followed his lead. I think that force was key.

Q. How much of your confidence is based on your history, basically knowing pretty much every playoff series you played there's at least a game where you show up and do something crazy? How much of your confidence is knowing it's going to come?

KLAY THOMPSON: Like you said, just studying the history of my career, realizing that it's not a linear progression. There could be nights where I'm hitting everything, I'm not hitting the rim at all. It's just about realizing that, like, greatness takes time. It doesn't happen overnight.

For what I've been through the last couple years, I will gladly be in this position, especially considering where I was at last year during June. Me and Rick Celebrini in the gym, just two in the arena, it was empty. There's nobody in the Bay during that time.

To be back here on this stage, just got to remind yourself to keep working because it's a blessing and really an honor to be here.

Q. You all have faced a lot of teams that like to switch off-ball actions. Does something separate Boston in terms of how they're able to do it?

KLAY THOMPSON: I don't think so. I think we've seen every type of defensive scheme at this point, over a decade. Basketball's not that complicated. Yeah, so I think we've seen every type of defense, whether it was blitzing the ball screen up top, like you said, switching every off-ball pick, every pick-and-roll. We just got to watch film.

We develop counters for them. I will not tell you those because we know why.