Golden State Warriors: Stephen Curry Injury Equals Klay Thompson's Time to Shine

Tuesday night's sequence of events demolished the start of the season for the Golden State Warriors.

With Stephen Curry defending Jimmer Fredette in the final minute of the first half, Fredette crossed over; and while sliding over to stick with the Kings guard, Curry sprained the same ankle that had been killing him during his previous two years in Golden State.

Now a door opens for Klay Thompson, a sharpshooter who dominated the Pac-10 (now Pac-12) at Washington State, shooting 43.6 percent from the field and leading the conference in scoring. Thompson scored double-digit points in all but three games last year.

Thompson has accomplished the kind of success that Curry had at Davidson, except Thompson never led the Cougars to the NCAA Tournament. However, in his senior season, the Cougars won three games in the NIT.

Curry easily had the better college career, and after a breakout season in which Curry averaged just under 19 points per game, it is clear that he is a star in the making. Thompson is looking to rise to the level Curry was at before his unfortunate injury.

If the results are good, Curry could miss limited time, but if not, Thompson will need to step up and cease the wound from Curry's injury. During his storied college career, he has shown us all that he can shoot; but so did Curry, who led the nation in scoring during the 2008-09 season.

While Curry had the better college career, Thompson has had some time (not much) to learn from Curry. And now the door has opened. On Tuesday night, Thompson showed us all aspects of his game, except his ability to shoot well.

Thompson had five rebounds, four steals, three assists and one block against the Kings, and seven points in 27 minutes, but his shooting was awful.

Thompson has to prove his comfort in the NBA and that he can drain jumpers the way he did in college, and post a high number of points. If he can do that, he can gain more minutes when Curry returns.

However, if he doesn't show what he's made of during Curry's absence, his name will be associated with the phrase, "Stephen Curry's backup." If Thompson doesn't step up and show what he's made of now, his career will go down in the dumps.

Curry can recover from injuries quickly, and he won't end his career soon. So if Thompson can't come through and fill the hole left by Curry, he won't see extended minutes.

If he can come through in the clutch, display his full skill set and put up the kind of game Golden State craves for, he will find success. Thompson's career depends on these games.

So for Klay Thompson, it's put up or shut up.