NBA teams
Kendra Andrews, ESPN 2y

Golden State Warriors get 'good indicator' of potential as Klay Thompson, Stephen Curry click in win

NBA, Golden State Warriors

SAN FRANCISCO -- Much of the conversation surrounding the Golden State Warriors heading into the season was about how they'd be a title contender once Klay Thompson returned. Instead, the Warriors hit a skid after Thompson's highly anticipated debut Jan. 9, experiencing some of the growing pains they'd skipped over at the start of the season.

But on Thursday night, everything clicked for Golden State, particularly from beyond the arc, in a 124-115 win over the Minnesota Timberwolves.

"It's a really good indicator of what our team can look like with Klay back and everybody healthy, for the most part, in terms of our shooters," Warriors coach Steve Kerr said. "With these last couple of games, the spacing that we've had and the ball movement, we've gotten great shots."

Thompson finished the night with 23 points and went 5-of-9 from 3-point range. Stephen Curry had a team-high 29 points and was 6-of-10 on 3-pointers. Andrew Wiggins and Jordan Poole each added 19 points, making five and four 3-pointers, respectively.

Curry's performance allowed the Warriors to take a big exhale, although they never admitted they were nervous about his shooting slump. But as Curry got going on Thursday, there was a noticeable change in demeanor.

"Stay confident, keep taking shots I feel like I can make," Curry said. "It's the balance of maintaining who I am on the court and how I enjoy the game even when things aren't going my way. That joy has to remain. Everybody feeds off of it. ... If I'm in my feelings and thinking about my shot, it takes away from everything else that we do.

"When a couple goes down early it's a good feeling. You want to ride that energy, that wave."

Entering Thursday's game, the Warriors had the third-worst 3-point shooting percentage over the previous 12 games. They ended the night shooting 58.3% (21-of-36), their second-best 3-point shooting night in franchise history.

For the Warriors, it was evidence that they are adapting to the addition of Thompson and the absence of Draymond Green, who has been out since Jan. 9.

"We've had two or three games with a consistent rotation, which is helpful," Curry said.

According to Kerr, Curry and Thompson have also needed time to get reacclimated with each other on the court.

"Two and a half years is a long time," Kerr said of Thompson's absence, "and the teammates around them have changed."

More adjustments will come when Green returns. The same goes for Andre Iguodala. The Warriors are prepared for the mistakes they'll make while working with yet another new rotation.

But if their game against Minnesota showed them anything, it's that the chemistry is there, and so is their potential to be dangerous.

"I thought we were going to play like this my first game back. Maybe I was a little naive," Thompson said. "It's going to get better every night. And when our full squad is back, it's going to be real scary."

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