The Golden State Warriors beating the Sacramento Kings 126-101 is nice, but the big story was Klay Thompson putting on a show for the NBA history books with 37 points in the third quarter, setting a new record for points in a single quarter.

The previous record of 33 was shared by George Gervin (1978) and Carmelo Anthony (2008). Thompson finished the game with 52 points, scoring 37 of the 41 points the Warriors poured down on the Kings in the third quarter, making their big breakaway. Needless to say he outscored the entire Kings’ team during that incredible quarter, when it seemed that the fans in the ORACLE arena simply stayed on their feet because of how many buckets he was making.

Thompson finished the game with 11-of-15 from beyond the arc, which is the best ever 3-point shooting performance in a game for a player attempting at least 15 shots. It was two points shy of Stephen Curry’s 54 from the 2012-2013 season, the highest scoring performance for a Warriors player over the last 30 seasons. Antawn Jamison had two 51-point games in the 2000-2001 season, but the Warriors were going nowhere at the time.

The thing about Thompson’s point? They weren’t forced. Sure, it was an insane shooting day for him, but most of them came in transition and with open looks at the basket. The Warriors play at such a high pace when their defense allows them to it’s very hard to not give up open looks. The Kings, slipping away since the weird act of firing Mike Malone, aren’t the kind of defensive setup to slow down this kind of explosive performance.

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