UNLEASHED: The Strategy Behind Klay Thompson's COMEBACK

On the out of bounds play, check out the alignment here by the Warriors. And Klay is just gonna slide back, while Poole and Wiggins will slide sideways to close the gap, looking like elevator doors, and you already know that this is the name of the famous play that Golden State likes to run.
Klay exploded for 10 for 13 from downtown, and there were some more interesting plays to get him open.
So let’s go through them. What up everybody, my name is Stefan and this is Heat Check. Let’s get into it.
Right here, props to Curry for the playmaking, as him and Draymond will run a pick and roll, and you can see that Porter JR steps inside to potentially help on the roll, so Steph uses that split second to fire away a pass to Thompson, the defender flies by empty handed and Klay is open for this shot and knocks it down.
The play gets kind of broken up here so you can see the little herky jerky movement, but right at this moment as he glances back, Klay sees that Porter is behind, following him. So with this entire side empty Thompson goes downhill as he gets a beautiful lob pass, and lays it in.
And watch everything that happens on this play.
We got a high pick for Steph forcing the switch by Shengun, and at the same time Draymond screens for Klay on the wing. But as Curry penetrates, Klay also relocates to a place where his point guard could see him and as he passes it away, Steph already knows that this is a splash so he just runs back. And he was right.
And once Klay senses that he’s got it going he goes into heat check mode, so on this 3 on 2 break, he calls his own number and stops on a dime at the three point line and buries it.
He finished the first quarter with 20 points, and in the second this is almost the exact same situation. In transition he looks for the shot, raises up from deep and another 3.
In the second half Thompson continued to school Porter JR with some more offensive tricks.
As we stop it, this is a double screen for Klay to curl out here, but midway through he’ll stop and cut inside with the paint wide open for him and the dunk.
Let’s quickly run it back to see why Green couldn’t help him. Since he’s defending Steph, the attention is on him all the time, and once Curry goes for the curl as well, Jalen is focused on that so he almost doesn’t even notice the cut by Klay and this is what makes this shooting tandem so deadly.
And this is a screen the screener action as initially Thompson sets a pick for Poole and watch coach Silas on the sideline as he did his homework and knows that Thompson himself will receive a pick this time on the wing.
The Rockets got a late contest but still the flamethrower was on and this one also goes in.
Despite leading by 18 in the first quarter, Golden State’s abysmal bench and defense on the road made this a tight game.
Seriously look at these horrific numbers from the second best defense in the league last year. Unbelievable.
So in a situation like that, Klay had to finish the game with a few more hero shots to get to 41 points and get his team their first win on the road this season. Much tougher than expected.
I’m just happy that he exploded like this after I mentioned his struggles in my last video.
Do you think that he could get back to his old self or was this just a one off thing? Let me know in the comments. That’s it for now, subscribe and talk to you in the next one. Peace out.

[ODaleduck]

Dude. I've been watching your content for awhile now and can't stop but feel about how great your way to tell the content is...
I'ts astonishing how you are informing objectively but still keep your humanity and sensibility while doing it.
Keep at it Stephen, and have a good day

[JT-ydlc]

I definitely believe that Klay will get his consistency back.

[eugeneflynn]

Klay’s been waiting for the arrival of his legs and touch. They showed up for this game. Hope they’re really back. Will he play tonight, it being a back-to-back?

[sarayx]

I just love seeing Klay do well. He's been my favorite player in the league for a long time now and I haven't been worried for a second. He will get better and better each game and I believe in him getting back to his previous level!

[august]

Ben, Klay, AD all playing great today.
Be it against a top/mid/low tier team, they still played great.

what i love was Steph feeding Klay down the stretch with a close game. The trust is there.

[dummyme]

Man, hours after the vid u uploaded about russ vs klay, the flood gates open. Heatcheck the GOAT

[tarico]

I forget where I saw it, but GS's starters are (or recently were) +70 in their +/- ; but the reserves are -90. To help alleviate this problem the starters can play more minutes IN THE PLAYOFFS. But the playoffs are a long ways away. Also, if you loose too many games, YOU DON'T MAKE THE PLAYOFFS.

[BlueAndGold]

Hey Stefan! Love the vid! Just a couple friendly notes from someone who studies Warriors basketball :)

1:57 This is called "Bilbao action" or Steve Kerr actually calls this "gaggle action" where it looks like a staggered screen, but the first player (Klay here) curls to the basket, while the 1st screener (Steph) uses the 2nd screen along the perimeter. Don't know if you made the "stagger screen for Klay" comment as that's what it was supposed to be, or that's just what it looks like to the defense - but just pointing out this is a common set play the Warriors run out of the post where it's disguised as a staggered screen :)

2:24 you did a good breakdown here! Just also pointing out this is the Warriors' signature end-of-quarter play. They've run it about 2 million times at the end of a quarter in the past few years, and it works because they have Steph and Klay. That's why the Rockets coach (Silas) knows what's going to happen. Klay sets a "ram screen" for Poole. Poole then goes to ghost a ballscreen. And while Poole is doing that, Klay uses an exit screen to get open on the perimeter. So the Rockets were right to switch on that Klay exit screen and did contest the shot. But when Klay's feeling it, he's feeling it.

That play isn't meant for Poole, but on the same play late in the 4th, Poole was open for a split second off the ghost screen, so Steph passed to Poole instead. The defense recovered though, and no surprise - that play eventually ended with a Klay 3 anyway.

[Flarizel]

The old soundtrack is back! YOOO THIS IS LIT!

[soob]

Good to see Klay have a good game. But I think it is still concerning this far into the season that the game was THIS close against the Rockets, with Curry, Klay and Wiggins having good games. Curry esp needs to be near perfect and even then these games are super close. They really need to address the drop-off from their bench unit.

[c-los]

Bro I was at the game with my brother it was nothing but pure greatness🔥

[harrincourt]

Slight correction, but the correct spelling is: "unleashed" :)

But it's a great video as always, champ!

[jbug]

good to see klay have a game with double digit 3pt makes. hope he can keep it up. this was against houston/porter jr tho. but still...

[MaxAndersonn]

Heat check should do a video about the strategy behind ADs come back

[Took_D_photo]

One of the most beautiful basketball
Warriors don't dont look for the ball the ball finds the open players on its own

[jimmyvenattu]

It's been soon long since I heard someone say "Elevator Door Play". Mark Jackson was a really good coach.

[johnblackbasel]

Rudy Tomjanovic screaming in pain.




Go ⚔️ Warriors ⚔️
👍🍻

[itaysafdia]

It's hard for me to believe he's really back as the man has probably the greatest hot strikes ever I need to see him be consistent before I say his back

[cannedpineapple]

Great video as always Stephan!! I'm not sure if it's just me, but I feel like these past few months the vids have been getting better and better.

[Negritis]

i think shootingwise he can get back to his old self
but when it comes to attacking the rim and defense he will be at least a level lower forever
still even this level is amazing after those 2 horrific injuries