2015 NBA Finals: Golden State’s Klay Thompson And Marresse Speights Expected To Play In Game 1

The Golden State Warriors received great news today as star shooting guard Klay Thompson passed the NBA’s concussion protocol and will play in Game 1 of the NBA Finals against the Cleveland Cavaliers Yahoo Sports Marc Spears reports via his twitter account.

Thompson suffered a concussion in the fourth quarter of Game Five of the Western Conference Finals after being kneed in the head by Rockets forward Trevor Ariza. Following the injury, Thompson was initially cleared by Warriors’ team doctors, but did not re-enter the game. It wasn’t until after the game that Thompson started developing symptoms.

As the Inquisitr reported Thompson’s father, Los Angeles Lakers great Mychel Thompon, told ESPN in greater detail of the younger Thompson’s condition after the game.

“He threw up a lot late last night but he felt much better afterwards,” said the elder Thompson, who drove Klay to the hospital. “Hopefully this break in the schedule will be a good break for Klay and the Warriors.”

Before Thompson could practice, he had to pass the a battery of concussion tests. According to the Associated Press, “The NBA concussion protocol involves several steps of increasing exertion from riding a stationary bike, to jogging, to agility work, to non-contact team drills. Players must be symptom free before advancing to the next step and if symptoms appear the player must return to the previous step. ”

Klay Thompson shooting workout pic.twitter.com/IJHnWxIKba

— Marc J. Spears (@MarcJSpears) June 2, 2015

Thompson’s participation from the start of the Cleveland series was seen as critical for the Warriors, who are seeking their first NBA title since 1975. Thompson is an excellent shooter who is tough to guard due to his ability to move without the ball. He is also a gritty defender that will give Kyrie Irving and J.R. Smith fits when they have the ball.

The 25-year old averaged 21.7 points, 3.2 points, 2.9 assists, and 3.1 3-pointers made per game during the regular season. He has been slightly less efficient during these playoffs but is still shooting over 42 percent from long-range. Thompson has reached double-figures in all 15 postseason games and has topped the 20-point plateau nine times.

While getting Thompson back is very important for the Warriors, it is the return of Speights to the lineup that could ultimately give the Warriors the edge they need. Speights has been out of action since injuring his calf in Game 3 of the Western Conference semifinals against the Memphis Grizzlies.

Speights return means that head coach Steve Kerr now has three “bigs” to choose from when he goes to the bench — Festus Ezell and David Lee are the other options off the bench for the Warriors.

Ezell has rebounded the ball extremely well in the playoffs and is probably the better option for the Warriors to go against the length of Tristian Thompson and Timofey Mozgov. However, Speights is very active around the rim and an excellent offensive rebounder as well as a good defensive rebounder. Speights will be able to draw Mozgov and Thompson due to his ability to knock down mid-range jumpers. This extra space will make it easier for Stephen Curry, Klay Thompson and Leandro Barbosa to get to the basket off drives as well as allow Draymond Green and Andrew Bogut more freedom in the post.

Speights was the Warriors fourth leading scorer during the regular season, averaging 10.2 points a game in just 15.9 minutes of action. He also grabbed 4.3 rebounds a game and shot 49.2 percent from the field.

Speights hasn’t seen much time in the playoffs and is only shooting 34.5 percent from the field. He is averaging 4.0 points and 2.3 rebounds in 7.3 minutes of action.

Game 1 of the NBA Finals is slated Thursday, June 4, at 9 p.m. (ET) at Oracle Arena in Oakland. The rest of the series schedule is as follows.

*Games 5-7 if necessary, schedule from NBA.com

(photo by Ezra Shaw/Getty Images)