Olympics Basketball 2016: Klay Thompson’s 30 points lead Team USA to narrow victory over France

Team USA had more or less been cruising through the 2016 Olympics basketball tournament in Rio, while WSU alumnus Klay Thompson had more or less been struggling with his shot.

Both of those things changed on Sunday when the Americans needed all of Thompson’s game-high 30 points to hold on for a three-point victory over France, 100-97.

Thompson shot 9-of-16 overall, including 7-of-13 from 3-point range. It was the sort of extremely flammable performance we’ve come to expect from Thompson from time to time.

Considered one of the best distance shooters on the planet, Thompson had scored just 11 points in the first four games, leading him to ask to be removed from the starting lineup for the win against Serbia. After another poor performance, coach Mike Kryzyzewski decided that wasn’t the solution, putting Thompson back in the initial five.

Good move, coach.

And in case you’d like to see all of Klay’s makes — including one ridiculous catch-and-shoot from the sideline as the shot clock expired — here you go:

Wait, let’s see that one again:

Despite looking shaky in the last few games, Team USA is undefeated at 5-0 as the quarterfinals get underway. It appears the opponent will be either Croatia or Brazil on Wednesday.