He was my favorite player in the PAC-10 since his freshman year at Washington State. KAB used to mock me as a fanboy. He has been my favorite player ever since.

Dubs are never OT.

Clutch shooting from Klay, DDV, and the Loon buzzer beater to save a severely undermanned Dubs team.

All 54 points shown

Sorry Klay, this dude rained on your parade:

"Donovan Mitchell erupted for 71 points in the Cavaliers' 145-134 overtime win over the Bulls on Monday night in Cleveland, Axios' Jeff Tracy writes.

Why it matters: That's the most points scored by an NBA player since Kobe Bryant dropped 81 points in 2006, and Mitchell becomes just the seventh player in NBA history to eclipse 70 points.

100 points: Wilt Chamberlain (March 1962)
81: Bryant (January 2006)
78: Chamberlain (December 1961)
73: David Thompson (April 1978); Chamberlain (January 1962, November 1962)
72: Chamberlain (November 1962)
71: Mitchell (last night); David Robinson (April 1994); Elgin Baylor (November 1960)
70: Devin Booker (March 2017); Chamberlain (March 1963)

By the numbers: Mitchell shot 22-34 from the field, 7-15 from three and 20-25 from the line. He also added 8 rebounds and 11 assists, giving him a hand in 99 of Cleveland's 145 points.

By game score an all-encompassing metric that evaluates single-game productivity this was the third-best performance in NBA history behind only Michael Jordan's 69-point, 18-rebound game in 1990 and Bryant's 81-point explosion.

The sixth-best game happened last week when Luka Donic put up a ridiculous 60-21-10 line in a historic comeback win over the Knicks.

The big picture: Mitchell and Doni's outbursts are part of a scoring explosion sweeping the NBA this season, with teams averaging 113.7 points per game entering Monday the highest mark in over 50 years.

Mitchell was one of five players to score 40+ points on Monday, bringing the total to 87 such games this season. At this point last year, there were only 31.

During the 2012-13 season, there were three 50-point games. There have already been nine this season, with Mitchell joining Klay Thompson (also last night!), Doni, Booker, Darius Garland, Joel Embiid, Anthony Davis, Stephen Curry and Pascal Siakam.
Fun fact ... The only players to score 70+ points this century Mitchell, Booker and Bryant are all shooting guards who were drafted 13th overall"
-Axios

"Another night, another huge NBA stat line.

Driving the news: Giannis Antetokounmpo scored a career-high 55 points in the Bucks' 123-113 win over the Wizards, adding 10 rebounds and seven assists to continue the best stretch of his career.

Wild stat: The tw0-time MVP has had at least 40 points, 10 rebounds and 5 assists in three straight games. The only other players to do that: Elgin Baylor (1961, 1963), Wilt Chamberlain (1963) and Russell Westbrook (2016).

Jan. 3: 55 points, 10 rebounds, 7 assists
Dec. 30: 43 points, 20 rebounds, 5 assists
Dec. 28: 45 points, 22 rebounds, 7 assists

The big picture: The MVP race is heating up, with Antetokounmpo, Luka Doncic and Nikola Jokic filling up the stat sheet on a nightly basis. Jayson Tatum, Kevin Durant and Joel Embiid aren't going away, either."
-Axios

Although two years apart, I thought Allen Crabb and Klay Thompson had pretty similar games when they entered the NBA. It's interesting how Thompson has improved over time, until the injuries set him back, while Crabb essentially flamed out after getting one ridiculously large contract. I may be overly simplistic, but I'll bet the team cultures that they were in (Warriors for Klay vs Blazers/Nets for Crabb) played a big part.

I basically agree with you with the exceptions:

1. I think Klay always had a better handle than Crabbe to take it strong to the hole;
2. I'm assuming Klay was always a better defender.

Allen Crabbe career salary earnings: $86M

Klay Thompson career salary earnings: $225M

HearstMining said:

---

Although two years apart, I thought Allen Crabb and Klay Thompson had pretty similar games when they entered the NBA. It's interesting how Thompson has improved over time, until the injuries set him back, while Crabb essentially flamed out after getting one ridiculously large contract. I may be overly simplistic, but I'll bet the team cultures that they were in (Warriors for Klay vs Blazers/Nets for Crabb) played a big part.

---

Klay came into the league with a Warriors team that was just developing something other than a pathetic losing culture. He was a big part of what made the culture what it is now. Portland had more wins during Crabbe's first year than Klay had the same year, his third, so it wasn't like Crabbe was joining a dysfunctional team.

Crabbe's best two scoring years he averaged roughly half of Klay's career average. Klay got to play with Curry but Crabbe played with Lillard, not exactly a bad PG. Crabbe was below league average in true shooting percentage for his career, Klay well above. Basically, the difference was talent.

If I recall correctly, Crabbe benefited from the salary cap exploding when his contract was up. I think a lot of guys got huge contracts at the time.

I think Crabbe was the better college rebounder

Good knowledge, HD.
Klay and Allen College Stats:





NBA Career Stats:

Klay PTS: 19.6 TRB: 3.5 AST: 2.3
Allen PTS: 9.1 TRB: 2.8 AST: 1.1