The Warriors and Kings were locked in a close one going into the third quarter Friday night in front of a sellout crowd in Oracle Arena, but the game wasn’t close for long. Klay Thompson broke loose and made history in the third quarter.
Thompson could not miss in the third quarter, literally he didn’t miss. He was 13-of-13 from the field and 9-of-9 from long range and 2-of-2 from the free throw line. He accounted for 37 of Golden State’s 41 points in the third quarter.
The 37 points in the third quarter broke the previous record of 33 points, which was shared by George Gervin (1978) and Carmelo Anthony (2008).
“I can’t believe I own an NBA record. God is good, and I’m so blessed to be here healthy,” Thompson said in a postgame interview on CSN Bay Area. “Hopefully it stands for a long time. That was crazy. I don’t know what happened. The zone I was in…I’ve never shot like that. That’s about it.”
Before Thompson did his thing the game was tied at 60, but when he was done, the Warriors had a 97-73 lead going into the fourth.
Thompson finished the night with a career-high 52 points on 64 percent shooting from the field (16-of-25) and 73 percent (11-of-15) from the three point line.
Just shortly after Thompson learned his teammate Stephen Curry led the voting for the All-Star Game and that his coach, Steve Kerr would coach the Western Conference in the All-Star Game; Thompson showed why he deserved to be right beside them in the All-Star Game on February 15.
The Warriors went on to win big over the Sacramento Kings, 126-101 and stretched their home winning streak to 18 straight and extended their record to 35-6, the best in the NBA.
