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Let's all agree to forget the final minute of the Warriors' 109-104 victory over the Timberwolves on Sunday. That was a circus. But all's well that ends well. And this one ended well for Golden State -- which trailed by as much as 12 in the fourth quarter and was again without the services of Stephen Curry, Draymond Green and Andrew Wiggins -- in large part because of Klay Thompson. 

If you've settled into the "Thompson isn't what he used to be" narrative, you'll be surprised to learn that he has been scorching hot for almost two months now. He finished with 32 points on Sunday, backing up the 42 he posted in a win over Houston on Friday, and is now averaging better than 26 points per game since Jan. 1. 

Over that span, Thompson is hitting 44 percent of the 12 3-pointers he's taking per game. Just this month he's already banked two games with 12 3-pointers, and he has 18 3s over his last two games. He scored 11 of his 32 points on Sunday in the fourth quarter, and his 30-foot 3 and one-leg floater over the last 50 seconds of the first half marked a momentum surge that will be forgotten with the way this game ended. 

Among the many reasons that the Warriors, just one game above .500 and still below the play-in line, are still considered championship contenders, Thompson is at the top of the list. 

The Warriors have become pretty top-heavy, and for that to work as a championship formula, those top guys have to be awesome. Outside of Curry, most people have written in Green and Wiggins as Golden State's next two most important players, but with Thompson in vintage form, and Jordan Poole a bonfire waiting to erupt, the Warriors look armed to turn back into that old team that was never out of the game and always within one or two nuclear stretches of burning a building to the ground. 

Golden State still has arguably the best starting lineup in the league when everyone is healthy, but that dominant net rating has been increasingly attributed to the singular brilliance of Curry, who can lift just about any five-man group into elite territory. When his sidekick is also in vintage form, which, again, he absolutely has been for an extended period now, that's when it feels like the dynasty is still alive. 

Right now, it's speculation. Curry has missed a lot of time. As have Green and Wiggins. The Warriors have probably let too much of the season get away from them without establishing any real positive momentum. But the leeway has been earned. Most teams can't flip the proverbial switch, but the Warriors, presumably, can. They have the experience. The pedigree. And somehow, it seems the same chip on their shoulder in moments of the highest competition. 

In many ways, that starts with Thompson, who has heard all the chirping that he's not an All-Star anymore. He's gotten more than testy with multiple opponents this season. Devin Booker. Dillon Brooks. He did it again with the Minnesota bench Sunday, offering a few choice words after one of his six 3-pointers. 

Thompson's as fiery a competitor as anyone in the league, and if he can channel this chip and keep this two-month heater burning down the stretch of the regular season and into the playoffs, the Warriors, who are now tied in the loss column with the No. 6 Mavericks and just one loss back of the No. 4 Suns, could find themselves right back in the middle of the championship hunt.