“I won’t say I’ll be rooting for him, but I’ll be watching him. The other 4 games we play him, I’ll be ready to go at him.” Steph Curry laid out his plans quite early on regarding how he would deal with Klay Thompson in the future. After a 13-year-long bond came to an end, it remained to be seen how the ‘Splash Bros’ would perform as rivals. The moment of truth is here. 2 quarters in, and the competition already seems to be at a high level. It didn’t take long for fireworks to fly between the two friends/former teammates.

As the 2nd quarter approached its final 7 minutes, the Mavs and the Warriors were neck-to-neck. The men-in-blue were leading through a 42-39 scoreline. The ball came into Klay Thompson’s possession. Taking advantage of being open by standing on the edge of the court, he dropped a memorable three-pointer to add to the Mavericks lead. While walking off, Klay did Stephen Curry’s iconic ‘Shimmy’ move.

Often hitting his opponents with the move after dropping memorable threes, the all-time three-point leader’s shimmy seldom fails to leave a smile on every face at the Chase Center. However, for Thompson to do the move at Curry’s home base… Yikes!

Later on, it was Curry’s responsibility to guard Thompson. In the process, trash-talking seemed to have been happening from both ends. Amid using words to distract the Mavericks player, and shaking his head with a slight smile on his face after Thompson did that ‘Shimmy’, Stephen Curry was certainly experiencing an unusual situation that no months of preparation would’ve readied him for!

Stephen Curry doesn’t have a trademark on the move. Therefore, Klay Thompson has adopted it for himself on quite a few occasions. The 5x NBA All-Star did it back in May 2022, after hitting a three-pointer during a Conference Finals matchup against the Mavericks. It is not for us to judge whether invoking ‘The Shimmy’ tonight was a reflex action, or, the best way to get into the Warriors‘ heads.

After all, if leading in scoring wasn’t enough for the shooting guard/small forward, the manner in which he celebrated may not do much to appeal to his fans. Whether it was Thompson stealing the move or not, Stephen Curry wasn’t having it by the end of the night. After the time the game ended, he indicated that the shimmy may have been responsible for what happened in the final minutes.

After pulling off an impressive clutch, Stephen Curry reacts to Klay Thompson’s Shimmy: “He knows better than that”

In the aftermath of the Warriors’ 120-117 win, everyone wanted to get the first Q&A session with Stephen Curry, aka the man of the hour. TNT Sports beat everyone to it. During the questioning, no time was wasted. They asked for the Warriors legend’s reaction to the Shimmy. He laughed for a bit, before replying, “He knows better than that”.

The Mavs held on to the lead during the final quarter. To stop them, Stephen Curry came out to drop 12 additional points during clutch time. After making a three-pointer and taking the lead to 118-114, the Chef pulled another one of his iconic gestures: the ‘Night-Night.’ The Mavericks attempted to take the lead, but eventually succumbed to the clock as they only had 117 to the Warriors 120.

If Klay Thompson didn’t know “better than that” earlier, then he certainly does now. What made it a boon to have Stephen Curry as a teammate was also a bane for his rivals. Ending the night at 37 points, the Warriors leader made it known that Klay Thompson will have to work harder to get the better of the Bay Area franchise.