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CURRY HOPEFUL FOR GAME 3 RETURN | PLAYOFF SCHEDULE | EXPERT BRACKETS

Without Stephen Curry and the unique problems he presents a defense for Game 1 against the Portland Trail Blazers, the Golden State Warriors’ challenge Sunday was keeping their peerless offense rolling without him. Enter Klay Thompson, the sharpshooter who normally thrives as an option off the havoc created by Curry. Instead, Thompson had to take Curry’s place as Option One, though not quite in the same ball-dominant manner. Not only did Thompson shine in that role, but his performance scoring the ball early made it possible for the Warriors to not look much different than how they normally play in terms of style. Their attack wasn’t point guard-centric, but the same ball movement we typically see was there, which forced Portland into making tough choices on where to focus its defense. That’s where the Blazers have to work harder early to prevent the shots Thompson was able to knock down against them.

“He’s tough,” Gerald Henderson said after the 118-106 loss. “He does a really good job of using screens. The guys set really good screens for him. He only needs an inch to shoot from anywhere. We really have to key in on him and make it physical.”

The process of keying in on him while not allowing room to operate for the rest of the Warriors is the toughest part of all. Much like other spectacular, historic shooters, you don’t really both his jumper unless you’re truly in danger of tipping the ball. His comfort level is through the roof when he knows he’ll get his shot off, and with his feet balanced and his body squared-up, Thompson may as well be in a mental state of napping and relaxation when he’s releasing his jumper.

Your initial strategy as a basketball defense would be to deny him the ball, but the read-and-react nature of what the Warriors do coupled with the scarily accurate, internal GPS Thompson has when navigating screens on the court makes that an impossibility.

“It’s almost impossible to deny him the ball,” Henderson said. “You’re not going to do that. But you’ve got to try to make it difficult for him. Make him shoot contested 2s. Really get in his space. Just contest his shot because you’re not just going to keep him from shooting. He’s very good with people close to him.”

So then what can you do? What can the Blazers do in order to keep the other Splash Brother from dropping another efficient 37 points on them and hitting seven or more 3-pointers for an NBA-record fourth straight game? With Thompson’s strengths and the …

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