Warriors confirm Klay Thompson tore ACL

Golden State guard Klay Thompson tore his left ACL late in the third quarter of Game 6 of the NBA Finals Thursday night, the Warriors said.

An MRI confirmed the diagnosis, according to the team's statement from Friday morning.

The star sharpshooter had 30 points in 32 minutes in Golden State's 114-110 loss to the Toronto Raptors, who won the NBA Finals in six games. Thompson injured his knee on an awkward fall while driving to the basket against Raptors forward Danny Green during a breakaway dunk attempt.

Thompson immediately went to the ground and grabbed his knee. He left the court only to return for a pair of free throws, which he made, giving Golden State an 85-80 lead. Warriors forward DeMarcus Cousins purposely committed a foul after Thompson's second free throw. That stopped play and allowed Thompson to head back to the locker room.

Later, Thompson was seen leaving Oracle Arena on crutches.

Yahoo Sports reported that Thompson is expected to miss up to nine to 10 months.

He is set to become a free agent after the season. Teammate Kevin Durant, who suffered a ruptured Achilles during Game 5 three nights earlier, can also be a free agent if he exercises his player option to do so.

Warriors owner Joe Lacob told Yahoo that signing Thompson remains a priority.

"I don't know yet what we're going to do [with Thompson]," Lacob said. "I've said for a long time I want Klay to be a Warrior for life, and so this doesn't change anything as far as I'm concerned."

After the game, Warriors coach Steve Kerr reflected on the injury to Thompson.

"It's amazement that we're sitting in this position with ... during the game, we have a chance to win the game and force a Game 7, go back to Toronto -- you just think, 'How? How has this group of guys put themselves in position to do it?'" Kerr said. "And then, as I said, when Klay goes down and is out for the game, it's just sort of a, 'You gotta be kidding me. This has to stop.'

"But it's just ... the way it's gone, I don't know if it's related to five straight seasons of playing 100-plus games and just all the wear and tear, but it's devastating."

Thompson, 29, shot 8-for-12 from the field and 4-for-6 from beyond the arc before he left the game. He also made all 10 of his free-throw attempts. He averaged 26 points in the Finals, but missed Game 3 because of a left hamstring strain.