Warriors’ defensive ace GP2 beats Trail Blazers with buckets

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Warriors’ defensive ace GP2 beats Trail Blazers with buckets originally appeared on NBC Sports Bay Area

SAN FRANCISCO – It was two hours before tipoff Monday night, and Warriors coach Steve Kerr was sharing his vision of Gary Payton II’s role in the absence of starting guard Brandin Podziemski.

Payton, Kerr said, would be able to support Jimmy Butler III’s orchestration of the team’s offense whenever Stephen Curry is off the floor.

“Gary’s obviously not a true point guard, but he can handle the ball and get us into offense,” Kerr said. “We’re elite at that position defensively with Gary there, so I think that’s what we will lean towards, with BP out, Gary handling those minutes. Then probably playing with Jimmy.

“So, Jimmy ends up handling the ball most of the time anyway. But Gary can bring it up against pressure, and get us into sets, and get the ball to Jimmy.”

What Kerr got in Golden State’s 130-120 victory over the Portland Trail Blazers was much more of the opposite: Butler getting the ball to Payton. And other Warriors, too, getting the ball to Payton. It was the right thing to do.

Payton was making shots – 3-pointers, layups, a floater, a dunk, even a hook shot – at a higher rate than Butler or Curry or any other teammate. The 6-foot-2 wing shot 11 of 16 from the field, including 4 of 6 from beyond arc, finishing with a career- and team-high 26 points in 28 minutes off the bench.

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This was a new and welcome dimension for the, ahem, defensive specialist.

“He’s going to be open from the 3-point line every game,” Kerr said after the game. “We had him handling the ball quite a bit to initiate the offense. And then he would receive it on the back end because of how they were playing everybody else. It’s a product of their defense.”

Curry scored 24 points while receiving his customary copious attention. Buddy Hield and Moses Moody each put in 20 points, while Butler managed 15 points, along with 10 rebounds and 10 assists for his first triple-double as a Warrior and the first of the season for the team.

But Payton, was the…

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Source link : https://sports.yahoo.com/article/warriors-defensive-ace-gp2-beats-234504506.html

Author : NBC Sports BayArea

Publish date : 2025-03-10 23:45:00

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