The Dallas Mavericks’ decision to sign Klay Thompson to a three-year deal in free agency was one of the biggest moves in franchise history, and Thompson backed up this hype right when he hit the hardwood.
Thompson started his Mavericks career with a dominant 22-point debut in a win over the San Antonio Spurs, and the good games kept rolling after that. He followed up this huge debut with games of 19 and 18 points, but his performances have slowed down some since.
Thompson’s first three games were the highest-scoring games of the season, and since then, he has only scored above 15 points or more once. This doesn’t mean that Thompson wasn’t making a vital impact on the game though, as his defense has been stellar and his 3-point shooting is spectacular, but these performances from Thompson did make some Mavs fans feel a certain type of way about how Jason Kidd and the team as a whole is utilizing Thompson’s skills.
Many fans were outraged that the Mavs weren’t getting Thompson involved early in games, and the numbers back that up. Thompson had shot a combined three total shots in the first quarter over the four games leading up to Wednesday night’s win over the Chicago Bulls, and Kidd made sure to listen to the Mavs fans in this one and get Thompson going early.
Thompson shot five shots in the first quarter of last night’s game, and this was tied for the most shots he’s taken in the first quarter of a game all season long. The Mavs were running actions for Thompson right out of the gate, and he finished with five points in the first quarter while shooting 2-5 from the field. Thompson’s five points and five shots in the first quarter both tied a season-high for him.
It was clear that Kidd wanted to get his sharpshooter going early in this game, and his comments during the postgame press conference backed that up.
When talking about Dallas’ performance early on in the game, Kidd talked about how it would have been “easy” to lean on Kyrie Irving and Luka Doncic, but he and the team elected to hone in on getting “other guys involved.”
“The group made a conscious effort for Klay to touch the ball since you guys asked that question, that important question of can Klay get shots and Luka not, so we listened to the media,” Kidd stated. “You guys really helped out…We listen.”
Sarcastic and playful or not, Kidd is aware of what the fans want when it comes to this team and there have been plenty of instances to prove that, and he decided to get some shots for Thompson early on in the game.
The team’s ball movement as a whole in the first quarter of the game against the Bulls was great to see, as Irving’s defensive dominance helped lead to plenty of layups on the other end, and Doncic taking the backseat to Irving to begin this game helped him find his rhythm and dominate the game with his playmaking. He found Thompson with a spectacular near-full-court pass that led to a layup, and he was letting the game come to him all night long.
Getting others involved right away helped Dallas tremendously, and Kidd making sure that Thompson got some early touches answered every Mavs fan’s wish when it comes to fully utilizing the new star sharpshooter.
Thompson getting fully acclimated to Dallas is going to take some time, and Kidd using him early and often in this game had to have made him feel good and more comfortable. He needs shots to make his full offensive impact (even though he’s an excellent passer), and the Mavs are going to need plenty more of the early buckets from him as Dallas faces off against the Phoenix Suns at the American Airlines Center on Friday night.
