OKLAHOMA CITY – Before he leaned back in his chair in the visitor's locker room at Chesapeake Energy Arena to check his phone for text messages and social media mentions, Klay Thompson revealed the secret to the night in which he authored the kind of performance that could make him a legend in the Bay Area for life – should the Golden State Warriors complete this incredible comeback and return to the NBA Finals. As he quietly got dressed, Thompson rolled up a pair of Stance socks with a cartoonish image of the green, pointy-eared Jedi master from Star Wars, Yoda. Thompson packed his lucky socks especially for Game 6, knowing he'd need something a little extra to fend off the Oklahoma City Thunder.

"I brought my Yoda socks to bring out my Jedi powers," Thompson told The Vertical after a performance in which the least heralded, but no less important, member of the Splash Brothers saved Golden State's season.

The Force was indeed strong in Thompson as he nailed an NBA-postseason-record 11 3-pointers and scored a playoff-career-high 41 points to lead the Warriors to a 108-101 victory against the Thunder that forced a Game 7 and restored that swagger that appeared all but vanished the last time they were in this building. But the impetus for this stunning momentum shift actually occurred in the locker room after a humiliating loss last Sunday that put Golden State down 3-1 and threatened to turn the Warriors' desires to repeat in leave-no-doubt fashion into disaster and their surprisingly long list of haters into giddy, I-told-you-so gloaters.

Draymond Green, the team's emotional leader and portable electrical charger, had been horrendous in the first two games in Oklahoma City – so mentally frazzled and uncharacteristically lethargic that his contributions had been reduced to kicking Thunder players in various parts of the body. But Green wasn't broken and he didn't want his teammates to share in his rut and let their spirits rot. Thompson recalled how the locker room fell silent and Green demanded their attention before heading back to Oakland for Game 5.

"It was a terrible feeling after we took that 'L.' Draymond stood up and said, 'Let's embrace this. We've made history all year and we can do it again, to get where we want to go,' " Thompson told The Vertical, before adding, "Embrace the challenge, that's what champions do."

The Warriors extended their chase for immortality for at least another game but also kept intact an impressive statistic that has exemplified the mental fortitude of this team over the past four seasons: Since Thompson, Green, Stephen Curry, Harrison Barnes and Andrew Bogut came together, Golden State has won a road game in all 10 playoff series. Before they hit the floor of an arena that caused them so much embarrassment, Thompson and Curry huddled with each other on the bench for a few minutes, going over strategy – attacking Oklahoma City's big men inside, making the Thunder pay for switching – and offering encouragement to one another.

"We just told each other, be aggressive," Thompson told The Vertical. "Go out there and do what we do."

Curry was slow to get going, but Thompson kept shooting and shooting until his shots eventually started falling. When they did, he helped the Warriors claw back from 13 down in the first half, and eight with just nine minutes left. Thompson described his chemistry with Curry as "telepathic" since they've been playing together for so long, so Curry didn't need a cue to determine when it was his turn to take over. And Thompson felt comfortable to catch a pass from teammate Andre Iguodala and, without hesitation, pull up and drain that crushing, tie-breaking 3-pointer over Kevin Durant's outstretched arm to silence a louder-than-usual crowd.

"Unbelievable. It's an amazing, feeling. I'm going to enjoy it now. Great times," Thompson told The Vertical. "We're going to enjoy this tonight, but quick turnaround. We realize this team is going to be hungry on Monday and we didn't come this far to end it on Monday."

Thompson is easily the most chill bro of the Warriors, a hardcore Harry Potter fan who enjoys quiet time with his bulldog, Rocco. The Star Wars fandom he revealed after the greatest game of his career was new to most, even as he has been building for such a breakout moment throughout this postseason. Curry was in and out of the first two rounds, battling injuries to his ankle and knee, and suffered a swollen elbow in the second game of this series. Through it all, whether Curry was sidelined, slogging or spectacular, Thompson hasn't shied away from picking up the slack. Nor has Thompson had a problem getting out of the way to let the MVP shine.

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