Mavs' Klay Thompson Talks Exorcising 'Demons' From Last Warriors Game in Win vs. Kings

A year after going scoreless in a play-in tournament loss to the Sacramento Kings in his final game with the Golden State Warriors, Dallas Mavericks veteran guard Klay Thompson was motivated not to let that happen again.

Thompson put forth a vintage performance in Wednesday night's play-in tournament matchup, scoring 23 points on 8-of-11 shooting to help lead the Mavs to a 120-106 win over the Kings at the Golden 1 Center. The 35-year-old admitted that he felt relieved after putting his 0-of-10 shooting performance in 2024 against Sacramento behind him.

"It did feel good to exorcise those demons in here. Man!" Thompson said during his on-court postgame interview with ESPN's Scott Van Pelt on SportsCenter, per ESPN's Tim MacMahon.

Things looked a little shaky for Thompson after he went scoreless in the first quarter of Wednesday's game, but his first shot of the second quarter bounced high off the rim before falling through the net.

"That kind of lifted the lid off the rim for me," Thompson said. "So that was nice."

Thompson's teammates knew how important Wednesday's game was to him personally, and he was praised for overcoming his mental hurdles.

"We all watch basketball, and we know how tough it was for him losing here the last time as a Warrior," Mavs star forward Anthony Davis said. "The way he played tonight, you can tell it was a lot of emotion for him and wanted to get this win. We wanted to get the win for him, so I'm glad he played well and glad we got the win."

Thompson will try to help the Mavs keep their season alive when they face the Memphis Grizzlies on Friday with the No. 8 seed in the Western Conference on the line.