Stephen Curry and Klay Thompson formed one of the better duos in the history of the NBA when they were teammates on the Golden State Warriors. With the Splash Brothers spearheading Golden State’s 3-point heavy offense for more than a decade, the Warriors won four titles and reached six NBA Finals.
But Thompson is no longer a member of the team he enjoyed so much individual and collective success with. In the offseason, he joined the reigning Western Conference champions — the Dallas Mavericks — on a three-year, $50 million deal.
Plus, Curry and Thompson are slated to soon face off in the NBA as opponents for the very first time. The Mavericks and Warriors will play each other in an NBA Cup game on Tuesday night, and ahead of the contest, Curry expressed that he isn’t all too fond of seeing his former teammate in a Dallas jersey.
“It’s weird seeing No. 31 (on it),” Curry said. “I hate that.”
The Warriors look to be a new and improved team compared to a year ago. Buddy Hield has made for a terrific Thompson replacement — he’s averaging 18.0 points per game in a bench role — and Golden State has the third-best defensive rating in the NBA. As a result, the team has a 8-2 record, which is tied with the Oklahoma City Thunder and Phoenix Suns for the best in the conference.
While the Warriors’ season has gone swimmingly to this point, the Mavericks have experienced some growing pains. Dallas owns a record of 5-5 on the season, and it is on a two-game losing streak.
Additionally, Thompson still has yet to find his footing in a Mavericks uniform from a scoring standpoint. He hasn’t dropped more than 22 points in a single game since the start of the campaign, and he shot just 4-of-13 from the field and 1-of-6 from 3-point range against the Denver Nuggets on Sunday.
Tuesday night’s contest between the Mavericks and Warriors will take place at Chase Center, where the Warriors are 2-1 this season. Golden State has played much of its schedule to this point on the road, as it owns a 6-1 road record.
