Klay Thompson - Goes off in bench role Thompson tallied 35 points (13-22 FG, 7-13 3Pt, 2-2 FT), six rebounds and two assists across 28 minutes Thursday in the Warriors' 140-137 win over the Jazz. Impact While playing off the bench for the first time since his 2011-12 rookie season, Thompson thrived in the new role, setting a new season high in scoring while firing off more than 20 shot attempts for the first time since Jan. 27. After the game, head coach Steve Kerr told Anthony Slater of The Athletic that Thompson will continue to come off the bench coming out of the All-Star break. While being deployed as the Warriors' sixth man could hurt Thompson's chances of regularly getting 30-plus minutes, the role should afford him more touches, as the 33.3 usage rate he sported Thursday was well above his season-long rate (23 percent). Fantasy managers shouldn't expect Thompson to regularly clear the 30-point plateau, however, as it took 59.1 percent shooting from the field and 53.8 percent shooting from three-point range for him to reach that benchmark Wednesday.
FEBRUARY 16 • ROTOWIRE