Klay Thompson, Mavericks oust Kings, keep playoff hope alive

SACRAMENTO -- As hard as he tried not to think about last season's play-in dud, when he was wearing a different uniform but playing on the same Golden 1 Center court, Klay Thompson couldn't keep it from occasionally creeping into his mind.
That was especially true after a scoreless first quarter Wednesday, so it felt like quite a relief when Thompson's first shot of the second quarter bounced high off the rim and rattled in.
"That kind of lifted the lid off the rim for me," Thompson said. "So that was nice."
Thompson provided a vintage performance for the rest of the Dallas Mavericks' 120-106 win over the Sacramento Kings. He finished with 23 points on 8-of-11 shooting, including 5-of-7 from 3-point range, a stark contrast to his 0-of-10 misery when the Kings eliminated the Golden State Warriors in the four-time champion's final game with his original franchise.
"It did feel good to exorcise those demons in here. Man!" Thompson said during his on-court postgame video interview with Scott Van Pelt on ESPN's "SportsCenter."