LOS ANGELES – When Warriors coach Steve Kerr and his staff review video of their Game 4 loss to the Lakers, they will find positives and negatives. They will see things to cheer and things to jeer, and at least one decision to debate and maybe even regret.
Why did Gary Payton II watch from the bench as a man named Lonnie Walker IV fried Golden State’s defense to a crisp?
Walker played the entire fourth quarter Monday night, scoring 15 points on 6-of-9 shooting from the field, including 1 of 3 from deep. His last two points came on free throws with 15 seconds remaining that gave Los Angeles a 104-101 victory.
The other 13 came on an array of shots. A 3-pointer over Andrew Wiggins. A transition layup off a Draymond Green turnover. A midrange jumper off an Anthony Davis screen that rubbed off Moses Moody. A 22-footer over Stephen Curry’s outstretched hand. A floater over Wiggins after Curry was rubbed off by a LeBron James screen. A 15-foot pullup over, once again, the outstretched hand of Curry.
As Walker kept cooking, it seemed reasonable that Kerr would make the call for his cooler. His best perimeter defender. Yet each glance toward Golden State’s bench found Payton seated, watching the Lakers close out the defending NBA champions and put them on the brink of playoff elimination.
I asked Kerr afterward if he considered other defensive options to slow Walker’s scoring rampage.
“Ahh, no,” the coach said.
Golden State Warriors
When I followed up by noting that GP2 played just the first two minutes of the fourth, Kerr replied with an explanation.
“Gary started the fourth,” he said. “We went to Moses to get another shooter on the floor. We stayed with that lineup for the two-way capability.”
Payton, however, was the Warriors' No. 3 scorer in this game, behind Curry (31 points) and Wiggins (17). His 15 points in 23 minutes were efficient: 7 of 9 shots from the field, including 1 of 2 from beyond the arc. His perfect third quarter (nine points, 4 of 4 from the field, including 1 of 1 from deep) generated much of the momentum that allowed the Warriors to take an 84-77 lead into the fourth quarter.
After the first two minutes of the final quarter, Payton was gone. He was in the starting lineup – with Klay Thompson, Curry, Green and Wiggins – but not the closing lineup. So, he sat with, among others, Jordan Poole, who was ineffective in his 10 minutes.
“Gary, obviously, starting the game, really gave us a lift,” Kerr said.
The decision to go with Moody was not a bad call, but opting for Payton seemed to be the more logical call.
Kerr’s reasoning for the decision seemed uncharacteristically curious, perhaps because the outcome was minutes old, and he clearly was displeased. Maybe even disgusted.
Those questions were put forward because this seemed like an ideal situation for Payton. The Warriors acquired him three months ago at the NBA trade deadline to prevent or ebb these kinds of scoring outbursts, particularly by opposing guards. They reunited with him, not knowing when he’d be cleared to play this season. They considered him worth the risk.
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The Warriors thought so much of Payton’s defensive impact, especially on the ball, that they were willing to wait, fingers crossed, because they knew the postseason would be a procession of guards who can score.
Kerr’s decision to start Payton in Game 4 was made largely because of D’Angelo Russell’s work in Game 3. Russell scored LA’s first 11 points, finishing with 21 points on 13 shots, and the Warriors lost by 30. Russell scored four points in Game 4. He shot 1 of 10 from the field. He was not neutralized. He was practically vaporized, with Payton mostly responsible.
Walker stepped in, scoring 15 of LA’s 27 fourth-quarter points. He was two points shy of Golden State’s paltry 17 points in the quarter.
“Lonnie Walker came in and made a huge impact,” Kerr conceded. “I don’t know if he scored all those points in the fourth, but it felt like it.”
He did, Coach. Walker was scoreless through three quarters. Didn’t even take a shot until the fourth.
It’s all there, on video, 12 minutes that will burn the Warriors for at least two days and, maybe, much longer.