The Golden State Warriors evened things up and will now head to Southern California for Games 3 and 4 versus the Los Angeles Lakers.
That will be an emotional game for Klay Thompson, and not just because of all that's at stake for both teams, but for more personal reasons.
Thompson's father, Mychal, played for the Showtime Lakers, and Klay grew up attending home games at Staples Center, now Crypto.com Arena.
That's why he vowed to give an extra effort when his team takes the floor for Game 3, stating that the late great Kobe Bryant is his biggest inspiration, so he wants to honor him and his daughter Gigi with his play.
Kobe was one of the most influential and inspirational players in the history of the league.
Countless active players grew up rooting for him and idolizing him, especially given he played in one of the prime basketball markets on Earth.
Bryant made a strong case for being considered the greatest Laker in franchise history, so maybe honoring him by beating his team would be a bit ironic.
Nonetheless, his relentless competitiveness and his Mamba Mentality have driven and pushed so many elite athletes to be the best version of themselves, so he would definitely be proud to see Thompson putting up 40 at his former home.
This series has gone back and forth thus far, and Thompson is coming off an elite performance in Game 2, so it'll be interesting to see who has the upper hand once they head back to the Bay for Game 5.