The Warriors have needed consistency all season. Fielding some of the highest numbers of lineups in the NBA through the course of the season, there’s been a high amount of uncertainty surrounding this team, with a big part of that being Klay Thompson. He’s been uncharacteristically inconsistent since his return from a 2-year injury hiatus, not the 20 points per game floor and 37 points in a quarter ceiling that we’ve seen in the past.

Despite a rough loss to the Hawks last night, Klay looked to find his groove.

Thompson came out the gates firing alongside temporary (for now, at least) backcourt mate Jordan Poole. Collectively, they posted 21 points on 6-for-7 shooting from the outside combined in the first 8 minutes. It was looking like a big game for him, and honestly it was: He finished with 37 points on an efficient 14-for-26 shooting. From outside, he had his first 9-three game in a long while, hitting precisely that number in 16 attempts in Atlanta.

Thompson’s ramp-up was something he cited as “a huge milestone” in his postgame presser, as it was the first time in 2 years that he had hit that number:

This is a huge milestone, not just for Klay personally, but for the Warriors as a team.

The playoffs are approaching fast. The Warriors need to prevent a slide if they want more-favorable seeding in a tough Western Conference. While there isn’t a team that we could say confidently could beat Golden State in 7 games when healthy, a little home-court advantage never hurts. It also gives Klay time to build some more of his signature consistency before the postseason begins. As of now, assuming the higher seeds win, the Dubs would be facing a path of Denver, Memphis, and Phoenix in a bid to get to the NBA Finals. Having an offensive weapon like Klay torching them alongside Steph and now Poole would be a huge boon.

Klay has been known as one of the NBA’s best playoff performers for a long while. Before his gruesome injury in Game 6 of the NBA Finals, he had 30 points. He’s historically cooked teams like the Durant-Westbrook Oklahoma City Thunder in Game 6 of the 2016 Western Conference Finals. He has stepped up time and again to be a force of nature that defenses have no answer for. If he catches the hot hand, he may be the most unstoppable scorer in the league.

Seeing that his conditioning is in the right place at this point in the season is very reassuring, given that Steph Curry will be fresh off his injury when the playoffs begin. As Draymond Green looks to speed up his signature defensive prowess after an injury of his own, the Warriors will need one of their other highly-touted defensive players to step up and fill in the gaps that cover simple, fixable mistakes when they pop up. Offensively, there isn’t a better three-man lineup than Thompson, Curry, and Poole; when all three get it going, this team is unstoppable.

Klay’s averaging about 24 points per game on 47% shooting from the arc since Steph went down. If he keeps this up, it’s very possible for him to not just be the NBA’s unofficial comeback player of the year (new award idea, by the way), but also the X-factor which could lead to another Golden State championship, and the extension of the league’s most infamous dynasty.

(Photo credit: Noah Graham / Getty Images)