BROOKLYN — Klay Thompson didn’t let his smile fade. Can he find solace in seeing the younger, spryer wings close out a win against the Brooklyn Nets? Most definitely. Is he frustrated that he didn’t close the Warriors’ win? Of course, he said.
“Yeah, you kidding me? To go from one of the best players …” Thompson’s voice trailed off. “It’s hard for anybody, I’ll be honest with you. It’s very hard. … Those guys played great, Gui (Santos), (Brandin Podziemski), Jonathan (Kuminga). End of the day, winning cures all.”
Thompson kept smiling.
Monday wasn’t the first time Thompson sat out to close a game this year. He was benched late for Podziemski in Memphis last week, but that game was trending toward a comfortable win. In November, he was benched for the first time in his career for crunch time in an eventual gutting loss to the Phoenix Suns; he was visibly frustrated on the bench and after the game as he spoke to reporters at his locker.
But this night in Brooklyn, Santos, who started the year in the G League and hasn’t played many other meaningful minutes this year, was too impactful to sub out. With Andrew Wiggins out injured, Santos gave the closing lineup of Steph Curry and Draymond Green flanked by young players Kuminga and Podziemski the athleticism and spark on the wings it desperately needed. He fought for loose balls, cut to the rim and wrangled or tipped rebounds — six, to be exact — in 17 minutes.
He had nine points and the Warriors outscored the Nets by 13 points when Santos was on the floor, a team-best.
“Everybody here always says be ready for when you have the opportunity to be on the court and play,” Santos said. “So when I saw I had a couple minutes on the court, I said I had to bring energy to the team, especially defensively.”
Earlier this year, coach Steve Kerr might have hesitated to play a youngin’ over a veteran, and in a few instances, the choice came back to bite — putting Moses Moody’s…
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