Warriors’ Draymond Green, Gary Payton II out vs. Nuggets
Warriors' Draymond Green will miss big Western Conference game vs.
Nikola Jokic, Nuggets

>Golden State Warriors’ Draymond Green (23) scores a 3-point basket
against Sacramento Kings’ Harrison Barnes (40) in the first quarter at
the Chase Center in San Francisco, Calif., on Wednesday, Nov. 1, 2023.
(Nhat V. Meyer/Bay Area News Group)
By SHAYNA RUBIN | srubin@bayareanewsgroup.com | Bay Area News Group
PUBLISHED: November 8, 2023 at 10:07 a.m. | UPDATED: November 8, 2023 at
5:20 p.m.
https://www.eastbaytimes.com/2023/11/08/draymond-green-out-for-personal-reasons-against-denver-nuggets-gary-payton-ii-questionable/

DENVER — Draymond Green and Gary Payton II are both out for the
Warriors’ game against the Denver Nuggets on Wednesday. Green, who is
out for personal reasons, isn’t with the team and the Warriors have not
divulged the reason for his absence.

Green, a key defender against Denver’s MVP center Nikola Jokic, will
miss his third game of the season and the final game of this Warriors’
four-game road trip. He missed the first two games of the season and all
of preseason recovering from an ankle sprain.

Kevon Looney will be the primary defender on Jokic and rookie Trayce
Jackson-Davis could see some extended time on the court with Green, who
causes Jokic some trouble as a help defender, out.

“It’s much harder (with Green out),” Klay Thompson said at the Warriors’
shootaround on Wednesday. “Draymond is an incredible defender. With
Jokic it’ll take a team effort, but he’s going to get his. It’s about
limiting what everyone else does.”

The Nuggets will be without star guard Jamal Murray due to a right
hamstring strain. Murray is shooting 43.8% from 3 averaging 16.3 points
per game in seven games.

The Warriors’ defense has improved since Green’s return against the
Houston Rockets in the third game of the year, but he said after the win
against Detroit that his conditioning is not all the way back to where
he feels most comfortable. Green, 33, had been weening off a minutes
restriction and is up to 26 minutes per game, he averaged 31 per game
last season.

Green is averaging 6.7 assists, five rebounds and 10.3 points in six games.

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Golden State’s defense also took a hit with Payton ruled out later in
the afternoon. He was initially listed as questionable with an illness
and wasn’t seen with the team during shootaround. Payton has been one of
the Warriors’ most valuable defenders, sometimes playing in closing
minutes or crunch time.

He’s a plus-57 rating over eight games, second only to Chris Paul’s
plus-58 — meaning the Warriors outscored their opponents by 57 total
points in his 159 minutes. Payton is averaging 3.5 deflections per game
and 1.6 steals per game.

This game against the Nuggets rounds out a road-heavy start to the
Warriors’ season. They’ll return home to play the Cleveland Cavaliers,
Minnesota Timberwolves and Oklahoma City Thunder.