Klay Thompson has taken charge of the Warriors in Stephen Curry's absence. The guard has put up games of 37 and 27 in the series against the Trail Blazers, although it took him a while to get going in Game 2.
The reason for that was Moe Harkless' tough defense for the majority of the game. In addition to making it difficult for him to score, Harkless was also able to draw a technical on Thompson — just his second of the season.
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"I pretty much knew I was under his skin," Harkless said Thursday about drawing the tech. "He was frustrated."
Some people may read Harkless' quote and laugh by pointing at Thompson's totals and the Warriors' 2-0 series lead, but he's not wrong. Even Thompson admitted, "the emotions got to me." The difference, however, was Thompson was able to regain his composure by the fourth quarter where he went off for 10 of his 27 points.
Even though Thompson still got his, Harkless will likely continue his strategy of playing tough, physical defense on Thompson. It was his goal heading into the matchup to be able to disturb the usually calm and collected Thompson.
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"I wasn't even saying anything to him," Harkless said. "I just kept bumping him and touching him and stuff. And he was running his mouth. That's why I was laughing. He was talking all crazy and I'm sitting there just laughing at him. I kept bumping him and bumping him and he got upset and pushed me. It was fun for me to be able to get under his skin, because that was my goal coming into the game.
"He was talking junk. I'll just put it that way. But I didn't mind it at all. At the end of the day, we're just playing basketball and that's fun either way. For me to be able to get under his skin, that felt pretty good. But it would have felt better to get a win."
The last part of that quote is important, because even if Harkless is able to make an impact by angering Thompson, it won't mean much without the W. The series will head to Portland for Games 3 and 4, and the series will be over if the Trail Blazers can't defend their home court.
