Klay Thompson Likely to Play, Andre Iguodala a Game-Time Decision with Injuries

The Golden State Warriors figure to at least have Klay Thompson on the floor for Thursday’s Game 5 of the Western Conference Finals against the Houston Rockets. They may have Andre Iguodala as well.  

According to Monte Poole of NBC Sports Bay Area, Thompson is "likely to play" after he went to the locker room for a period in Tuesday’s Game 4 loss following a hard fall on his knee. Iguodala did not play in that loss, and Poole said the veteran has been deemed a game-time decision.

The Warriors announced Iguodala was out for the last contest with a left lateral leg contusion.

With the veteran sidelined and Thompson struggling after his own setback (4-of-13 for 10 points), the onus of carrying the offense fell on Stephen Curry and Kevin Durant. They managed just fine for extended stretches and helped the Warriors build a double-digit lead in the fourth quarter, but the team scored just 12 points in the final period and blew the advantage.

Curry and Durant appeared to run out of gas and were short on jumpers on the way to a combined 19-of-50 (38 percent) shooting performance from the field.

Thompson's sharpshooting from deep helps take some of the pressure off the duo of Curry and Durant, as there are few players in the entire league as adept as taking advantage of openings created by his teammates.

While Thompson's presence will be crucial, Golden State could also use Iguodala to help steady its rotations and provide the full Hamptons 5 lineup heading into a best-of-three series for the right to play in the NBA Finals. Iguodala helps with the spacing as well, but his presence on the defensive end allows the All-Stars to preserve some of their energy for the offensive side.

The only way the Warriors will advance to their fourth straight NBA Finals is with at least one win on Houston's home floor, and they are far more likely to accomplish the feat with a healthy Thompson and Iguodala.