Klay Thompson, Draymond Green Play Like Stars and Lift Warriors to Win

In the best of times, credit generally went to Stephen Curry and Kevin Durant. It was their scoring and rebounding and playmaking and, yes, defense that supplied most of the power for recent Warriors victories.

They were All-Stars being All-Stars.

In the worst of times, blame tended to fall upon Draymond Green and Klay Thompson, Golden State's other All-Stars, who spent most of December searching for their best selves.

Theirs was a case of All-Stars being ordinary, or worse.

But Saturday night, for the first time in nearly two months, the Warriors had four All-Stars that -- for the most part -- fit that status. Though Durant and Curry played well enough, Green and Thompson did some of their best work this season in a 115-105 win over the Trail Blazers at Moda Center in Portland.

Thompson did what he does best, scorching the nets. He scored a team-high 32 points, his first 30-point game since Nov. 24. He did it on 12-of-21 shooting, including 4-of-5 from deep, shooting higher than 50 percent for the second time since Nov. 23 and only the seventh time in 37 games.

"I felt great this morning," Thompson told reporters in Portland. "Obviously, I've been in a little five-game rut. But that happens. It's life. It's basketball. You can never get discouraged. This was long overdue."

Thompson even looked like a different player, more determined and conveying much more old-fashioned joy. With his shot falling, he such optimism that at one point he uttered a few words of love to his shooting hand.

"Just that ‘I missed you. It's good to see you again,' " he explained. "It's been a five-game absence or so where [his shooting hand] hasn't been the same. To finally see the ball go in at a high rate felt really good. I'll keep being aggressive and, hopefully, get on a great roll from here."

Over his previous five games, Thompson averaged 12.3 points on 30.9-percent shooting, including 17.9 percent from deep. That led to some negative body language, which was markedly better.

"He looked more like himself," coach Steve Kerr said of Thompson. "Even after the missed dunk and then he came down and had a layup that went all the way in and came all the way out back-to-back. But he was fine after that. I thought maybe he'd hang his head, but he was already in a groove and he could feel it. He could feel the rhythm again."

When Thompson is playing efficiently on offense, the Warriors tend to operate at a completely different level. The energy seems to flow through the entire team. That surely was the case on this night.

"It's always a great energy and vibe when he's going," Curry said of Thompson.

[RELATED: Warriors' Andre Iguodala ejected for 'hostile act' at halftime vs. Blazers]

While so much of the glory of this game was showered upon Thompson, Green also did what he does best. He set a tone for his teammates to fall in line.

As is typical for Green, he made more of an impression on the court than on the stat sheet – except for the impact line. He scored only three points, shooting 1-of-6 from the field, but ended up a team-best plus-27 for his 34 minutes.

That's because he did enough dirty work to warrant a six-hour bath. Green grabbed a team-high nine rebounds, recorded six assists, blocked a shot, drew two charges, and harassed anyone who dared to challenge his defense. 

This is the guy who earlier this week blamed himself for bleeping up the offense.

Durant had 25 points and five assists – but committed six turnovers. Curry also scored 25 points, adding a game-high eight assists and two steals.

There have not been many nights this season when the Warriors felt the impact of all of their All-Stars. This was one of them.

They'd like to see a few more.

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