OAKLAND, Calif. _ When they took the floor Thursday night, it was the 2,070th game played by the Warriors at Oracle Arena, a number only notable because it was also the last. Outside the arena was still draped in Warriors images, huge photos of players and fan-ready slogans, but it was still goodbye, just a matter of whether a parade might pass by in a few days.
But what the Oracle really needed was one more memory and that came late in the third quarter when Klay Thompson, who had supplied much of the heroics for the Warriors on this night and really for years, came down awkwardly as he was fouled on a fast-break layup. He had to be helped to his feet and carried off the court with his arms wrapped around the shoulders of his teammates.
The Warriors called a timeout and by the time that they were shuffling back onto the court Thompson came striding out of the tunnel, raising echoes of Willis Reed at Madison Square Garden. He went to the line and sunk a pair of free throws giving him 30 points, but the return was an emotional one, not a realistic one. By coming back for the free throws he was eligible to return to the game but he departed after sinking them and headed back to the locker room. He was done for the night, leaving the locker room on crutches.
