Warriors need Klay Thompson to rediscover shooting touch

CLEVELAND — Amid rising chatter about Stephen Curry’s strangely uninspired performance in these NBA Finals, the Warriors also must be wondering what’s happening with his brother in splash.

Klay Thompson’s biggest ripple during the first three games came when he accused Cleveland center Timofey Mozgov of setting a “kind of dirty” screen Wednesday night in Game 3.

Thompson is averaging 12.0 points in the Finals, far below his output in the regular season (22.1) and first three rounds of the playoffs (26.2).

Thompson shot 44.9 percent from the field in this year’s previous playoff series, including 45 percent on threes.

Thompson made 4 of 5 shots after he returned midway through the second quarter, including his only three-point attempt.

[...] I’m not going to hold a grudge.

Cleveland head coach Tyronn Lue defended Mozgov, who was called for a foul on the play.

Teammate Richard Jefferson also came to Mozgov’s defense, making the same point many fans did on Twitter:

“If we’re really going to talk about dirty plays and things like that, it’s going to happen in the playoffs,” Jefferson said.

Channing (Frye) almost got an elbow, and Draymond’s stuff has been well documented.

For all of Curry’s wondrous feats this season, Thompson was Golden State’s best player in the series against Houston, Portland and OKC; witness the way he scored 41 points and carried the Warriors to their season-saving, Game 6 win over the Thunder.

Cleveland has decided to swarm both Curry and Thompson on the perimeter, essentially daring other players to produce.

When Steph gets going, then all of a sudden, you put two or three guys on him and guys are chasing him around; I think that’s when Klay really feeds off him.

[...] the rest of their team does, too.

Email: rkroichick@sfchronicle.com Twitter: ronkroichick