Man, he has rockets in his legs! He's sure fun to watch! -AL

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Warriors 3 Things: Son of a Glove Gary Payton II jumpstarts Warriors’
best defensive performance of the season
Golden State Warriors vs. Charlotte Hornets: LaMelo Ball? Steph Curry?
No, this Warriors win was all about Jordan Poole and Gary Payton II.
>SAN FRANCISCO, CALIFORNIA – NOVEMBER 03: Gary Payton II #0 of the
Golden State Warriors dunks over Kelly Oubre Jr. #12 of the Charlotte
Hornets at Chase Center on November 03, 2021 in San Francisco,
California. (Photo by Ezra Shaw/Getty Images)
>SAN FRANCISCO, CALIFORNIA – NOVEMBER 03: Gary Payton II #0 of the
Golden State Warriors dunks over Kelly Oubre Jr. #12 of the Charlotte
Hornets at Chase Center on November 03, 2021 in San Francisco,
California. (Photo by Ezra Shaw/Getty Images)
By DIETER KURTENBACH | dkurtenbach@bayareanewsgroup.com | Bay Area News
Group
PUBLISHED: November 4, 2021 at 5:00 a.m. | UPDATED: November 4, 2021 at
10:36 a.m.
https://www.eastbaytimes.com/2021/11/04/warriors-3-things-son-of-a-glove-gary-payton-ii-jumpstarts-warriors-best-defensive-performance-of-the-season/

Against the NBA’s best offense through the early part of the season — a
team that’s absolutely lethal in transition — the Warriors turned in a
truly sterling defensive performance Wednesday night in a 114-92 win.

Those 92 points Charlotte posted were no fluke: the Hornets shot 37
percent from the floor and 28 percent from beyond the arc in the contest
thanks to lockdown performance from the Dubs.

They needed it, too. Offensively, the Warriors were exceptionally
sloppy, particularly in the first half.

When they cleaned that mess up and stopped passing the ball to
Charlotte, they pulled away from the young Hornets.

The catalyst for the defensive success was the final man on the
Warriors’ roster, Gary Payton II.

Inserted with a little less than four minutes remaining in the first
quarter, Payton immediately started impacting the game. A rebound led to
an assist. A steal led to one of the most thunderous dunks you’ll ever
see — a textbook posterization of Kelly Oubre that will be immortalized
in Warriors lore for a decade, at least.

--
NBA
@NBA
RISE UP, GARY PAYTON II 💥💥💥
@warriors and Hornets head into Q2 on ESPN!
[video]

7:39 PM · Nov 3, 2021
2.7K 54 Share this Tweet
--

With Payton on the floor, the Warriors had some punch, some scrap.

Pair that with Draymond Green and an outstanding offensive game from
Jordan Poole (31 points) and you have a win.

There’s a reason Warriors coach Steve Kerr was uppercutting the air in
celebration on the Golden State bench during this game — it was as
happily animated as we’ve seen the Warriors coach in years: The defense
the Warriors played with Payton on the court was nothing less than
championship-worthy.

--
Dieter Kurtenbach
@dieter
I think Steve Kerr likes it
[video]

8:49 PM · Nov 3, 2021
75 9 Share this Tweet
--

The Dubs are trying to replicate the magic they found last season, when
they played without a true center outside of Kevon Looney and were able
to win 15 of their last 20 games. A big part of that success was the
team’s defense. Without serious rim protection, the Dubs locked in on
the perimeter. Opposing teams didn’t know what to do without easy
3-point attempts.

I’d say the Warriors are doing a good job of doing just that this
season. This team has an identity now, and it starts on the defensive end.

But sometimes, you need a spark plug to get a defense — and a team — going.

Payton was that on Wednesday.

--
Warriors on NBCS
@NBCSWarriors
GPII is a menace on defense 🔒
[video]

9:21 PM · Nov 3, 2021
1.4K 17 Share this Tweet
--

But make no mistake, the Warriors’ great defense was a team effort, even
though LaMelo Ball shot 35 percent and Terry Rozier shot 16 percent from
the floor.

Looney, Andre Iguodala, Damion Lee, and, of course, Green all played a
big role. In the third quarter, the Hornets went more than nine minutes
without a field goal. Nine whole minutes!

Still, Payton deserves more accolades. What a game he had. The Son of
the Glove was better than “the mitten” Wednesday night. No, he was the
Clamps, the Gauntlet.

He ended the game with a defensive rating of 71 (opponents’ points per
100 possessions) and an offensive rating of 115.

You can do the math. The Warriors were a net positive of 43 points per
100 possessions in Payton’s 17 minutes Wednesday.

--
Joe Viray
@JoeVirayNBA
What a pass by Nemanja Bjelica and what a cut by Gary Payton II.
[video]

8:48 PM · Nov 3, 2021
245 14 Share this Tweet
--

Kerr said that he needs to play more after Wednesday’s game.

Yeah, I would think so after a performance like that.

And to think there were some Warriors who wanted to keep Avery Bradley
instead of him this season.

- Curry? Who needs him?

This is the first time I have mentioned Steph Curry in this column.

Why?

Well, simply, he didn’t contribute much to the team’s win.

Curry was bad by his standards on Wednesday. He scored 15 points on 15
shots in 35 minutes, turning the ball over four times in the process.

Last season, the Warriors only won 11 of 25 games where Curry failed to
score 30 points. They were totally reliant on his offense.

This year, they already have five wins.

If that doesn’t tell you how far this team has come since last season,
nothing will.

It’s not as if there was anything that Charlotte was doing to mess with
Curry. It was just an off-night for the Baby Faced Assassin. Kerr said
after the game that Curry has been sick for the last few days. The joys
of having young children in the house.

But he still had his gravity. He still found a way to dish out nine
assists. But he wasn’t the focal point of the Warriors’ offense.

That was Poole on Wednesday.

- Confidence builder

Man, did Jordan Poole need that kind of game.

Poole had been drifting since his 22-point performance against the Kings
in the Dubs’ third game of the season. He couldn’t even get right in two
games against Oklahoma City.

But he started hot on Wednesday and only tapered slightly as the game
progressed. Poole had 22 in the first half to lead all scorers and
finished with 31 points.

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State Warriors

The most telling stat of the night for Poole, though, was his one
turnover. After a few games where he was downright reckless with the
ball, he looked smart out there — well, as smart as you can look when
you are straight chucking all night (as he was right to do).

The Warriors can win without Poole, but only if Curry plays well. That’s
obvious, right?

But Wednesday told us that the Warriors can win without Curry, so long
as Poole plays well.

And while that’s not something the Warriors are looking to test often
this season, the possible change is a big one for the Dubs.

This is a good basketball team, folks. Smart, deep, stout, and ready to
win a ton of regular-season games.

It’s been a bit since that was the case. Enjoy the ride for the next few
months.