Klay Thompson seemed to let a lot of his frustrations out in his 25-point, three-assist breakout performance against the Indiana Pacers on Friday night. Not only did Klay effectively bust his early-season slump, but he also helped the Heat cruise to a second straight double-digit win.
The Heat are now 2-4 on the season, winners of two straight, but, perhaps most importantly, Klay just had one of those games that could completely change his rhythm heading into a very important five-game road trip.
During the first five games of the season, Klay hit a few 3s here and there, but still left much to be desired as one of the team's spotlight offseason acquisitions. It got to the point that many were already questioning whether it was time for Erik Spoelstra to pull Klay out of the starting 5.
In that stretch, Klay was averaging just eight points per game on 32 percent shooting from the 3-point range. Considering Klay is a 41 percent career shooter from deep, he was playing well below his expected output.
As the Heat's starting shooting guard, that just wasn't enough. Especially considering that, as a whole, the Heat were going through their own offensive struggles.
Klay Thompson breaks out of his early-season slump
However, against the Pacers, it's almost as if everything shifted. Klay caught fire, particularly in the third quarter, but it was the first time all season that he managed to get off to a quick start, scoring 10 points in the first half.
Klay finished with 25 on the night but, most importantly, he went 7-for-12 from the 3-point range. Even though that's not necessarily the production that the Heat can expect from Klay every night, it's certainly closer to the efficiency that Miami signed up for when they acquired the former All-Star guard.
After the game, you couldn't help but feel relieved for Klay, considering how negative the noise was surrounding the game over the first week and a half of the regular season. Now that he's gotten that first big performance off his back, maybe this is more of what he'll be able to produce in the future.
Again, Klay doesn't need to score 25 points every night (though the Heat would take it); he just needs to shoot at a much more efficient rate than he did during those first five games of the season.
And if his breakout performance against the Pacers is any indication, it appears Klay is one step closer to being that player for the Heat.
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