SAN FRANCISCO – Chase Center bosses almost seemed to rise as Gary Payton II jumped off the bench and walked to the goal-scoring table, but had to wait a little longer before making it to the finals. the NBA.
“At first it simulated me a bit,” Payton joked about Warriors head coach Steve Kerr.
A month and two after his left elbow fractured in Memphis, a few more seconds didn’t feel so bad. After all, he felt he was ready for Game 1 on Thursday night, but Kerr was comfortable using it only in an emergency.
The second game was the emergency, in a sense.
“It was frustrating to know I could go out and help my teammates,” Payton said. “It simply came to our notice then. Last week I knew it was very close, so it was just anticipation and restlessness, ready to go. “
Payton represents a necessary layer for the Warriors. What pure goal scorers lack, they make up for with dynamic wings that make energy productive. And Payton was so anxious that he made a tray on the open track because his body seemed to move faster than is natural.
Luckily, he was rescued by a lack of touch from Jaylen Brown, who would have fouled a perfect night from the field: 3 of 3, including a three-pointer that seemed to surprise everyone on the Celtics bench.
“It looks pretty good, doesn’t it?” Payton wondered aloud about his shot.
Golden State Warriors goalie Gary Payton II reacts after a first-quarter play against the Boston Celtics during the second game of the 2022 NBA Finals at the Chase Center in San Francisco on June 5, 2022. (Kyle Terada / USA TODAY Sports)
“I was worried he might just reach out and shoot the ball, but he dropped those three,” Kerr said. “So I needed a few extra days to be really ready, and I thought it was great. The level of defense, physicality and speed in the transition, gives us a big boost.”
Given the injury, it looked like he would be reluctant to shoot from a distance, as well as being far below the list of his attractive qualities.
But courage is the first word in his biography, so if he dared, he would dare, after a season of throwing 35% of three in his career, reaching 43 in 71 games.
The story goes on
He even had a heart attack on the same elbow that had more than a few wondering if he would join Andre Iguodala on the list “for a day and then return to the IR.” Fortunately, Dillon Brooks was nowhere to be found, and no code break was part of the post-game discussion.
“I tried to get in and shoot the best I could,” Payton said.
He speaks deliberately, his charm less in the volume of words but in the space he leaves through silence. Nothing like his father, the Hall of Fame member who sat next to the track.
But his value was evident in his entry, a value the Warriors recognized in the only preseason game he played before picking him over veteran Avery Bradley. It has certainly paid off, but Payton paid for it with hard work: one of the best individual defenders in the league.
It will probably pay off tangibly in the summer as well; he is owed an increase after exaggerating his $ 1.9 million salary this season. In the immediate present, it is a necessary intangible.
“We were a little soft in the first game,” Payton said. “And that was our emphasis on getting out of this game and just being aggressive and playing basketball for the Warriors, we know how to play and be defensive, locked into our tasks and knowing our staff.”
His aggression and activity allow him to describe the game of the first game as “soft” without this being insulting to his more veteran teammates. In this series, they will probably need the best of it in this series of style fights.
The worst of the Celtics falls directly into the hands of the Warriors: a general oversight with the most prized object of the game, which leads to three faster and faster downtime.
Payton will be hiding under the personal space of Brown and Jayson Tatum, though he is generously at 6 feet 3. Maybe the Warriors will put him on Marcus Smart and give him a taste of his own annoyance.
With the dynamic attack of the Celtics present, Payton is more necessary in this series than even against Luka Doncic in the last round.
He seems ready for the extra responsibility.