Klay Thompson Lands 10 Straight Three-pointers, Ties NBA Record

Klay Thompson became only the second NBA player in history to score 10 consecutive three-pointers without missing and to score the first 10 attempts from beyond the arc in a game.

On Monday night, the 28-year-old hit his first 10 three-pointers as he finished with 44 points on 17-of-20 from the field and 10-of-11 from three-point territory in just 27 minutes during a routine road win over the Los Angeles Lakers.

Read more: Are the Golden State Warriors the most hated team in sports?

The four-time All-Star erupted in the third quarter, going 8-of-9 from the field as the Golden State Warriors turned a 10-point lead at halftime into a 30-point gap by the end of the penultimate period.

The defending NBA champions ran out 130-111 winners in Los Angeles, improving their record for the season to 33-14 and strengthening their gap on the first spot in the Western Conference standings.

Thompson's only miss from beyond the arc came shortly before the end of the third quarter, when he exited the game for the final time with the Warriors comfortably ahead.

"That was hard. That's hard to do," he said, as per 95.7 The Game. "I thought I had 11 for a second, but that's basketball."

According to data from Elias Sports Bureau, Chandler Parsons was the last player to hit 10 threes in a game, doing so as the Houston Rockets lost 88-87 to the Memphis Grizzlies in January 2014. To find the last player to score his first 10 attempts from beyond the arc, one has to go back all the way to April 2011, when Ty Lawson went 10-of-11 from three points as the Denver Nuggets beat the Minnesota Timberwolves 130-106.

Thompson isn't new to scoring sprees and Monday night marked the 13^th time he's scored 40 or more points in a game and the fifth time he's hit 10 or more three-pointers. In October, he set a new NBA record as he hit 14 three-pointers on his way to scoring 52 points in a 149-124 win over the Bulls in Chicago.

"When you got the hot hand, you're just looking for that little ounce of space, because all you need is an inch or two," he told NBA on TNT after the game. "That thing is just flicking off your wrist so easy, and it just happened to be one of those nights."

Thompson was well supported by Kevin Durant and Stephen Curry, who finished with 20 points and six rebounds and 11 points and 12 assists, respectively. The Warriors have now won eight games in a row and maintain a one-game lead over the Denver Nuggets, who are currently second-seeded in the Western Conference.

The Lakers, meanwhile, slipped to 25-23 after a second consecutive loss and they are now one-game behind the Utah Jazz and the Los Angeles Clippers, who are tied for the eight spot in the West.

With LeBron James missing his 14^th straight game because of the groin injury he picked up against the Warriors on Christmas Day, Ivica Zubac top scored for the Lakers with 18 points, while Brandon Ingram and Kyle Kuzma scored 17 and 16 points, respectively.