Killer Klay Strikes Back As The Warriors Show The Heart Of A Champion And Embarrass The Lakers In Game 2

Isn't it awesome to witness greatness unfold before your very eyes in the NBA playoffs? No? You want new blood in professional basketball? I get the desire for that. I also recognize how special Klay Thompson's story is. We're talking about the greatest perimeter shooter to ever hoop — other than the guy who happens to be his backcourt running mate, Steph Curry.

Thompson went through a torn ACL and a torn Achilles and missed two full seasons of basketball. When he showed some rust in his long-awaited return, haters were quick to write Klay off. He did not write back. Picked up right where he left off by being a key cog in a fourth NBA championship squad.

Fast forward to tonight. Klay ain't quite been Killer Klay. Prime Klay. Game 6 Klay. Whatever you wanna call him. Then he struts onto the floor and reminds us how special he still is. Goes bananas on the Lakers with the Warriors' season on the line. I mean come on...does it get any more aesthetically pleasing than this??

Vintage in-a-phone-booth Ray Allen type shit right there. PURE.

I mean, ex-Warrior Juan Toscano-Anderson labeled Klay a killer well after I keyed in the headline so I'm running with it:

Yes, Golden State was the more desperate team and had to have this one to even the series of one before traveling to LA. That doesn't detract from what Klay did. He was straight-up sniping the Lakers into submission.

If loving Klay Thompson's basketball skills is wrong, I don't want to be right. Appreciate greatness while we have it. This is why I wanted the Warriors-Lakers series so badly. Tonight's blowout should be an outlier in an otherwise tightly contested series. The Lakers will make adjustments and not give up, you know, approximately a bazillion treys every single night from here on out.

Think about how these playoffs are shaping up. Both LeBron and the Steph-Klay-Dray trio are pushing for a fifth 'chip. There's a damn good chance whoever wins this matchup will represent the West in the NBA Finals (sorry, Nuggets). Any of the Final Four teams out East between the Heat (eight seed), Knicks (ARE THEY BACK!?), Sixers (Process finally pays off?) and Celtics (second straight year) make for fantastic finalist narratives.

Fitting that with all that was at stake on Thursday evening, it was Klay Thompson spearheading the Warriors' charge. That "heart of a champion" X-factor is so real. You can never count them out. 

Now we'll see in Games 3 and 4 whether or not Golden State's abominable 11-30 road record from the regular season comes back to bite them in the ass and sends them back home trailing 3-1. Even in that scenario, I refuse to give up on Klay or the Dubs.

Give me Warriors-Lake Show with Jack back in the house. Can't wait to see how the Lakers respond to this ass-kicking.

OMG A STAR WARS GRAPHIC from tonight. May the 4th be with you!

Low-key snuck in a "Strikes Back" into this blog title because of course I did. It's the little things. #SomeThings. Etcetera.

Twitter @MattFitz_gerald/TikTok