The Inconsistency of Klay Thompson

With 55 regular season games out of the way, a question is being raised: How consistent is Klay Thompson?

Of all the guards in the NBA, the Golden State Warriors’ shooting guard, Klay Thompson is among the league’s best.

As it stands now, he is currently fourth among shooting guards when it comes to points per game, putting in almost 22 points per contest. He is also 10th in the league in three-point field goal percentage, which is down a bit from last year from nearly 44 percent to 41.8 percent.

Nevertheless, Thompson is having by no means a bad year. At least the numbers wouldn’t suggest so.

After signing a four-year, $70 million contract last season, he had his best year as a pro. However, this season, a slow start has pulled his numbers down a bit from last year. He is scoring 0.1 points less per game, which is microscopic, but he is less active on the defensive end, earning 0.6 steals per game compared to 1.1 last year.

With that being said, statistically Thompson is doing well. But if we look at his numbers at a game-by-game level, we can see the whole story.

Thompson has always been a streaky player, long before torching the Sacramento Kings for 37 points in a single quarter. Some months Thompson would seem to be unguardable, hitting shots that only his back court mate may be able to put in. Other times, his shot selection and inability to put the ball in the rim raised some eyebrows.

Let’s take a look at some stat lines from three games Thompson had last season, starting with the iconic 37 point quarter night:

1/23/15 vs Sacramento: 52 points, 64 percent from the field, and 73.3 percent from three.

1/25/15 vs Boston: 31 points, 57.9 percent from the field, and 42.9 percent from three.

1/27/15 vs Chicago: 30 points, 48.1 percent from the field, and 40 percent from three.

Here we see a three-game stretch where Thompson gave the Warriors some very good production. Three straight games Thompson scored 30 or more points, which teams would be giddy to get from their first scoring option, let alone their second.

Now lets fast forward to a stretch of three games a little over a month later where Thompson just didn’t seem to be himself.

3/1/2015 at Boston: 20 points, 39.1 percent from the field, and 20 percent from three.

3/2/2015 at Brooklyn: 7 points, 17.6 percent from the field, and 11 percent from three.

3/4/2015 vs Milwaukee: 17 points, 31.3 percent from the field, and 37.5 percent from three.

Over those three games, Thompson averaged seven less points per game than his season average, and also shot the ball at barely over 30 percent from the field and 22 percent from deep.

One problem with this may be that it is such a small sample size. However, this happens in little spurts during the season. Over the next five games after the three above, Thompson shot 51.2 percent from the field and 52.9 percent from three, while scoring 23.2 points per game. But during four games from April 5th to April 11th just a month later, he shot 37.3 percent from the field and 31.8 percent from deep, while averaging 15.5 points per game.

If you want to look at the bigger picture, consider this. Thompson has seemed to fall off the grid offensively during the post-season. Could it be that it just so happens that he hits a slump during those times? It is a possibility.

If we look at the 2013-2014 season, Thompson averaged 18.4 points on 44.4 percent shooting from the field, and 41.7 percent from deep; Very good numbers for a third-year player. In their seven-game series against the Los Angeles Clippers, Thompson numbers fell to 16.4 points per game, on 40.8 percent shooting from the field, and 36.4 percent from deep.

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Fast forward a year, and Thompson had a breakout season, earning his first All-Star appearance, finishing the season at 21.7 points per game, a 46.3 percent field goal percentage, and 43.9 percent from three. But his number in the playoffs, especially the NBA Finals, do not compare.

In the entire 2015 post-season, Thompson managed to put up 18.6 points a game, and shot an impressive 44.6 percent from the field. However, his three-point percentage dropped down to a mere 39 percent. That is not a bad mark for an average NBA shooter, but for Thompson, we’ve come to expect more.

The six-game NBA Finals series the Warriors played against the Cleveland Cavaliers is even more evident of Thompson’s streakiness. Over those six games, Thompson averaged 15.8 points, 40.9 percent from the field, and just 30 percent from deep.

Unfortunately, this year has not been much different. Thompson had a rough start to the season, which happens to even the best players. However, Thompson did not tally a 20-point game until the eighth game of the season, and didn’t put up 30 or more until the 22nd contest of the year.

During the first 25 games of this season, the Warriors went a staggering 24-1. During that time however, Thompson averaged just 17.9, and had only eight games with 20 or more points and only one game with 30 or more. He did however shoot the ball well at an overall 45.7 percent and 43.5 percent from deep.

In the 30 games since then, Thompson’s scoring has gone up nearly seven points per game to 24.5. He is also shooting the ball with more consistency at 47.7 percent overall.

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As we know, Thompson is a great player who can light up the scoreboard on any given night. He has the ability to go 13-for-13 in a single quarter including 9-for-9 from behind the arc. But sometimes Klay giveth, and some times he taketh away, because he also has the ability to go 3-for-17 and 1-for-9 on threes.

We may just have to accept that that may be the nature of his game, and overall it will all average out. Let’s just hope this season, he can be counted on when the Warriors really need him.