The importance of Thompson’s presence has been apparent all season, but especially so over the past six weeks.

As a result, Kyrie Irving had to take the majority of the offensive load on his shoulders, which ultimately led to the 2016 NBA champion sustaining an ACL tear injury. RELATED: What made Jason Kidd lose his mind about the Mavericks: "I’ve never seen

After Monday's game, Klay Thompson spoke about Irving when he met with the media. Thompson: "It hurt, obviously with Kyrie being out for 10-12 months... We know he's going to come