On Monday night, history was made. Klay Thompson became the first player in NBA history since the implementation of the shot clock to score more than 50 points in less than 30 minutes. Thompson finished with a mind-blowing 60 points in 29 minutes as the Warriors completely destroyed the Indiana Pacers, 142-106.
Here's what you need to know:
THE HIGHLIGHTS
Notes:
1. The 2:21 turnaround is the "nothing on earth could put out his fire, not even the cold vastness of space" shot.
2. Thompson's energy was really evident, like in the run-out in the first quarter at the 1:27 mark. He just had an extra gear. It should be noted the Pacers were on a back-to-back after beating the Clippers last night, so it makes sense they were a step slow, but they still should have brought more help on Thompson. Like an anvil, or an actual army.
3. The shot at 2:50 mark of the video where they double screen for Curry -- and Klay comes back over the other screen -- is just a great set.
4. The inbounds steal, whip-pass from Curry to Thompson at the 3:38 mark is just cruel. The Pacers should report them for bullying. That's just mean.
5. It is kind of awkwardly painful how many of these Thompson got, including his bucket to cap the night at 60, were guarded by great defender Paul George. He did not have it. Then again, nothing on Earth was stopping Thompson.
THE NUMBERS
Thompson made 21 of 33 from the field, 8 of 14 from beyond the arc and 10 of 11 from the free-throw line. Here's what that looks like.
Thompson joins Carmelo Anthony and LeBron James as the only active players with 60 or more points in a game. Stephen Curry's career high is 54, Durant's is 54, so Thompson has the highest career high of any current Golden State Warrior, and he's not even considered by many to be the third-best player on the team.
Thompson is the fourth Warrior in franchise history after Wilt Chamberlain, Rick Barry and Joe Fulks to put up 60 in a game.
Thompson had zero turnovers, making his performance one of only two 60-point, zero-turnover performances since 1984.
Klay's 60 points came on 46 TOUCHES. 1.36 POINTS PER TOUCH.
— Yaya Dubin (@JADubin5) December 6, 2016
According to SportVU data, Klay Thompson had the ball in his hands for about a minute and a half in his 60-point performance. #Warriors
— Danny Leroux (@DannyLeroux) December 6, 2016
COMPARING KLAY'S 60 TO OTHER GREAT SCORING PERFORMANCES
OK, it's not Wilt's 100. No matter how many more shots Chamberlain needed (and he needed 63, 28 more than Thompson took for 60), just the ability to get up that many shots is a whole other level. Yes, the competition wasn't nearly the same, but 100 is 100 and that's always going to stand.
It's also not Kobe's 81. Yes, Bryant needed 46 shots, but also bear in mind that the Raptors hung with the Lakers the whole way in that game. Bryant needed to score 81 to beat the Raptors in a season where the Lakers were hard up for wins. The Warriors led by 40 at one point in this game. They did not need this performance from Thompson to win this game, and that changes the context of it.
It does firmly go above Bryant's 60-point performance on 50 shots from his retirement game.
Here are a few other 60-point performances on 35 or fewer shots for comparison:
And here are the only other players to score more than 60 with eight or more made 3-pointers:
Doing this in this range of time really does cement Thompson as one of the greatest scoring forces in NBA history. He might not be at the top, even on his own list, but this game will be talked about for a long time.
The best game to compare it to is probably Kobe Bryant's 62 points in three quarters vs. the Mavericks in 2006, just before he went for the 81.
QUESTIONS THAT MUST BE ASKED THAT YOU SHOULD ASK YOUR FRIENDS AND NEIGHBORS
How many would Thompson have gone for had he not been pulled in the third?
Should Steve Kerr have kept Thompson in to see if he could make a run at Bryant's 81, or would that have tempted the basketball gods?
What kind of performances would Thompson be putting up if he weren't on a team that has to share shots like the Warriors do? Would he have these kinds of performances all the time because of his amazing shooting ability, or is his greatness the combination of the system and players he's surrounded by in Golden State? Would Thompson be greater or less than if he had his own team where he could dominate like James Harden or Russell Westbrook?
Why didn't the Pacers bring a double every time to cool him down? The answer is "because of Stephen Curry and Kevin Durant" but at some point you have to do something, right?
Why did the Pacers even come out after halftime when Thompson had 40 in the first half? Why not just get on the bus?
Is Thompson going to top this performance this season? Or this week?
What are the Clippers, who will face the Warriors on Wednesday, thinking after watching this go down?
