Amen Thompson drops 25 times in illuminating performances during the Warriors' defeat
Amen Thompson leaned against the wall and stared at the gymnasium at the Houston Memorial Hermann training facility, laughing while listening to smooth R&B music. The sophomore firmly believes his team can still win the first-round series against the Warriors despite hitting 3-1.
“[I feel] The young star completed a Rockets morning shot on Wednesday. “I feel great.” So, it may be thought that Amen was inspired by his brother Ausar, who just won 22 points for Detroit to avoid the elimination of New York the night before.
Thompson made five steals in the first half to set the defensive tone in Houston’s 131-116 victory that forced Game 6 in Golden State. “Every game they won, we won after that,” the 22-year-old said before the game. “That’s what I got from it.”
The NBA sophomore ended the night with 25 points, 6 rebounds, 5 steals, 3 blocks and 3 assists, becoming the first Rockets player to score 10 points in a single game in the past 25 playoffs. “He's personal, and that's what we need every night,” Dillon Brooks said. “As a defender, you have to play individually.”
Thompson's performance led a defensive clinic on how to guard opponent Stephen Curry, which also became the first player since Charles Barkley in 1993 to accumulate 25 points, 5 steals and 3 blocks in the playoffs. “He was reading Stephen, reading a lot of guys, staying in front, being disciplined on the defensive end without having to arrive.”
“The same mentality, his tenacity to play with him brings us a lot of energy and a lot of extra possessions, which makes their best players coward and think. That's what we need: Their best players can think, think, think, think, think, not play the game in the process,” Brooks insists on praising his teammates.
