For a while in late March, it seemed as though the Golden State Warriors were going to fall out of the playoff picture entirely amid the Houston Rockets’ hot streak. But on Thursday night, the Warriors showed that they are still a class above the Rockets, securing a 133-110 victory on the road that extends their lead for the 10th spot in the standings to four games. In such a crucial game, it was important for the Warriors to set the tone, and that’s exactly what Klay Thompson did.

With only three and a half minutes having gone by in the first quarter, the Dubs found themselves on a two on four fastbreak; the smart option was to pull the ball back, but Thompson had immense confidence to pull up from three, over an elite defender and a sworn nemesis in Dillon Brooks, no less. The Warriors sharpshooter then drilled a three right in Brooks’ grill, prompting a staredown to renew the rivalry between them.

It’s not quite clear yet if it was this specific three that had the Warriors fired up for the entire game. But one thing is clear — the veteran Dubs team came to play against an upstart Rockets team that was feeling themselves and talking some smack.

Klay Thompson had one of his most seamless games of the 2023-24 season, putting up 29 points to give the Warriors a healthy cushion in the standings with only six games remaining on the season.

Klay Thompson vs. Dillon Brooks, redux

Dillon Brooks has been public enemy number one in the Bay Area for quite some time now. Brooks has irritated every member of the Warriors franchise and its fanbase, thanks in large part to his questionable actions on the court during their tussle in the second round of the 2022 NBA playoffs.

The Warriors disliked Brooks ever since he injured Gary Payton II on a dangerous play, and since then, Brooks has relished being the villain in the eyes of the Dubs. Klay Thompson has had his tense moments with Brooks as well; on Christmas Day 2022, Thompson taunted Brooks, who was on the ground at the time, after nailing a three in his face, and then in March 2023, Thompson reminded Brooks of how many rings he has.

Since then, however, another team has caught Dillon Brooks’ eyes — the Los Angeles Lakers. Brooks has made it a mission to be the best LeBron James irritant he can be, which has shoved his rivalry with the Warriors aside. But this latest interaction between Thompson and Brooks might pave the way for it to be re-ignited.

Warriors virtually seal play-in spot

The Warriors still have not mathematically sealed a spot in the play-in tournament. They have a four-game lead over the Rockets with six games to go, so they could still possibly lose all games and miss out on the postseason if Houston goes unbeaten the rest of the way. Nonetheless, that looks rather unlikely, and in the unlikely event that the Rockets tie the Warriors in the standings, the Dubs own the tiebreaker anyway (3-0 in the season series).

As things stand, the Warriors are headed towards a collision course against the Lakers in the 9/10 matchup of the play-in tournament. It’s a rematch of the famous 7/8 matchup in 2021 and the heated 2023 second-round matchup, and given the prominent names involved, expect this game to be the biggest draw of the play-in tournament in its five-year history.