Klay drains 277th 3-pointer of season, sets career high

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There were national pundits who believed Klay Thompson would never return to the player he once was before he sustained consecutive major leg injuries.

To say that the Warriors star shooting guard has proved Charles Barkley and others wrong is an understatement, and his latest achievement is further proof that Thompson is back and better than ever.

Thompson's fourth 3-pointer of the night against the New Orleans Pelicans on Tuesday at Chase Center was his 277th of the season, setting a new career high for the four-time NBA champion.

Thompson's previous career high for 3-pointers in a season was 276 during the 2015-16 campaign.

Before the Warriors-Minnesota Timberwolves game Sunday, coach Steve Kerr was asked what it says about Thompson that he was able to accomplish something so significant after missing 31 months while recovering from a torn ACL and then a torn Achilles.

"He'll be able to do that until he's 90," Kerr said. "He's always going to be able to shoot. I think the main thing is just the durability, the fact that he's playing back-to-backs now, playing heavy minutes. He's just put in so much work to get to this point to overcome the two injuries and now to play at such a high level. Everybody's thrilled for him."

While Thompson's 276 3-pointers in 2015-16 came on 650 attempts, he already had set a career high for attempts entering Sunday's game with 660.

A career 41.5 percent 3-point shooter, Thompson is shooting 40.6 percent from deep this season.

With five regular-season games remaining, Thompson has a realistic chance at 300 3-pointers for the first time in his career.

Thompson blocked out the doubters early this season, and that has paid off with how well he has played over the last few months.

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