By Mark Angelo Mañez

Manila - Klay Thompson's pivotal return after 2½ years and two debilitating injuries sent the Golden State Warriors on rampage, as he chipped in 17 points (7/18 FG, 3-for-8 from 3-point territory) and frustrated the Cleveland Cavaliers in a 96-82 strangling in downtown San Francisco, Sunday evening (Monday morning in Manila).

PHOTO: Getty Images

He also dropped three boards, a dime and a swipe in 20 minutes, much to the thunderous appreciation of the crowd and chants of 'Klay! Klay' shaking the whole Chase Center as he walked off the floor.

Meanwhile in Dallas, Luka Doncič posted another triple double as he led the Mavericks in taming Chicago's rampage with a 113-99 hauling at the American Airlines Center.

PHOTO: My Journal Courier

He finished the game with 22 points, 14 rebounds and 14 assists as he towed the Mavs back on the winning column and denied Chicago of surpassing their 9-game winning streak.

DeMar DeRozan and Zach Lavine combined for 40 while Nikola Vucevic and Coby White each had 13 in the setback.

Longtime buddy Steph Curry ignited the Warriors with his 28 points, 5 rebounds and the same number of assists, Jordan Poole added 14 for Golden State. They now tie the Phoenix Suns on top of the Western Conference with identical 30-9 slates, subsequently snapping their two-game slide in the process.

"It was just amazing having him out there," said Curry during postgame.

Thompson last played in 2019 against Toronto during Game 6 of the finals where he tore his ACL, which started his agonizing 941-day recovery. He then tore his Achilles, while on recovery, during a team scrimmage in November 2020.

The five-time All-Star made his return even more special as he set two career milestones by reaching 12,000 points and knocking down 1,800 threes.

Lamar Stevens, meanwhile, paced Cleveland with 17 points and 4 rebounds, and also having lost 10 consecutive meetings against Golden State.