Klay Thompson has had a pretty tough start to the season. Entering Tuesday’s game against the Suns, the Warriors guard was averaging 14 points on 40-percent shooting, including 34 percent from 3. With two points on 1-of-8 shooting, including 0-of-5 from 3, against Phoenix, those shooting numbers fell 35 percent overall and 21 percent from 3.
A bad night turned worse when Thompson was hit with the first ejection of his career at the 7:24 mark of the third quarter. He was going back and forth with Devin Booker for a good while, and before long you saw the normally even-keeled Thompson about as angry as you’ll ever see him on a basketball court.
You can see Thompson still had plenty to say toward the Phoenix bench as he was walking off the court. Something Booker said or did seriously got under his skin. That man was heated. It’s hard to imagine Thompson’s frustration over his early struggles didn’t at least shorten his temper a little bit.
In his postgame remarks, Booker acknowledged that Thompson was, shall we say, referencing his four championship rings throughout the game.
After Thompson’s ejection. Golden State was outscored 22-9 in the remainder of the third quarter and would go on to lose 134-105. Booker finished with 34 points and became the first player in franchise history to score at least 30 points in three of the Suns’ first four games.