What we learned as GP2’s career night fuels Warriors’ win originally appeared on NBC Sports Bay Area
BOX SCORE
SAN FRANCISCO – The Warriors on Monday night at Chase Center were reminded that every quarter counts.
They played phenomenal two-way basketball against the Portland Trail Blazers in the first half to hold a 19-point lead, 68-49, but came out flat in the third quarter where they were outscored 43-34. Message received.
Both teams scored 28 points in the fourth quarter, showing how important the Warriors’ great first half was for a 130-120 win.
The star of the night somehow wasn’t Steph Curry. It wasn’t Jimmy Butler, nor was it Draymond Green. That title belonged to Gary Payton II.
Playing against his former team that gave him a hefty paycheck after the Warriors’ 2022 NBA championship season, Payton was nothing short of spectacular. Payton was a marksman from 3-point range, a menace defensively, threw down a crowd-pleasing dunk and even showed off some wild acrobatics.
Payton in 28 minutes off the bench scored a career-high 26 points, going 11 of 16 from the field and 4 of 6 on threes. Monday night marked his first 20-point game since December of 2021.
Steph Curry scored 24 points and fell two 3-pointers shy of 4,000 for his career. Moses Moody and Buddy Hield also added 20 points, and Butler put together a 15-point, 10-rebound, 10-assist triple-double.
Here are three takeaways from the Warriors’ fifth consecutive win.
GP … 3
On a night where everybody waited to see if Curry would make his 4,000th career 3-pointer, Payton stole the show from downtown. Whenever he makes a single three, it’s an added bonus. If Payton is draining multiple shots from behind the 3-point line, it’s almost a guarantee the Warriors are cooking offensively.
Payton in the first quarter scored seven points off the bench, with the lefty making his lone 3-point attempt, cashing in from the right corner. The second quarter, where the Warriors outscored the Blazers 33-22, is when Payton really began to heat up.
He took four threes and was successful on three of them, doing so from the left corner, right corner and the top of the arc. His four threes in the first half matched a career high for an entire game, and Payton’s 16 points going into halftime tied his season high for a game.
Payton’s first 3-point of the second half attempt looked right on track, only for it to rattle out. But on the Warriors’ next possession, a layup gave Payton a season-high 18 points. Another eight points in the fourth quarter brought Payton to his career high.
Clash Of Rookie Centers
A battle between rookie starting centers featured the No. 7 overall pick in the 2024 NBA Draft and one taken 45 picks later at No. 52 overall. Quinten Post, the Warriors’ second-round gem, quickly found out why Donovan Clingan was such a hot commodity coming into the draft.
Clingan on the Warriors’ opening possession blocked Post’s attempt at a hook shot, only to swat him again around the rim a little over one minute later. But Post then showed off his main skill the next time the Warriors had the ball, burying a 3-pointer.
Their styles are complete opposites. Yet, both refuse to be punked. The two even got tangled up within the first two minutes of the second quarter, and Post showed he can do what Clingan does best, too. In his first 10 minutes of play, Post already was up to a career-high three blocked shots.
Post showed some frustrations with his faults and was a minus-2 in 25 minutes, scoring 11 points, as well as seven rebounds and four blocked shots. Clingan also blocked four shots but was a plus-4 in 32 minutes with 15 points, nine rebounds and six assists.
Buddy Balls Out
No player has brought Warriors fans more frustration this season than Hield. When he’s hot, the Warriors are a problem for any team in the NBA. When he’s off … he’s way off.
There were few reasons, if any, to complain about Hield’s performance against Portland.
His 3-point shot was money, making six of his nine attempts, which gave Hield his most threes in a game since Dec. 8. Hield also provided much more than the long ball. He dished out a season-high seven assists, plus had two rebounds, two steals and one block. Hield was a plus-16 in 25 minutes off the bench, giving him one of his best overall games of the season. While the Blazers scored a total of 23 points off the bench, Hield and Payton alone combined for 46.
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