SAN FRANCISCO -- Speed vs. speed. Game-changing defense vs. Mr. Clutch. Grinding through the G League vs. former top draft pick.
That's Gary Payton II going against De'Aaron Fox.
Plenty of battles between the Warriors and Sacramento Kings in the first round of the Western Conference playoffs will garner headlines and find the spotlight. None is more interesting than the two Sonic the Hedgehog-style guards sprinting up and down the hardwood.
De'Aaron Fox is the centerpiece to the Kings' fast-paced offense who put up historic numbers this season. At 25 years old, the No. 5 pick from the 2017 NBA Draft had his first All-Star campaign, averaging 25.0 points, 6.1 assists, 4.2 rebounds and 1.1 steals per game while shooting 51.2 percent from the field.
Payton, 30, has turned from fan-favorite to the Warriors' Mariano Rivera, coming off the bench, bringing the crowd to its feet and closing the door on the other team's glimmer of hope. Give him a surprise start and Payton can inspire his Pedro Martinez impression, defying stature and invoking a giant. He's a reminder dynamite comes in small packages, a firework show for maybe 15 or 20 minutes a night.
And this time of the year is exactly why the Warriors brought him back in a four-team, four-player trade at the Feb. 9 deadline in a deal where they were willing to move on from James Wiseman for a player they let walk in free agency for a contract they wouldn't match. A player like Fox is exactly who the Warriors had in mind when they signed off on the trade.
"When I look at Gary I just think of the playoffs last year. We started him against Ja Morant," coach Steve Kerr said Wednesday after Warriors practice. "And then he got injured and he was out and he missed Game 1 of the Finals. When he came back in Game 2, we won four out of five from that point, and he guarded Jaylen Brown quite a bit.
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"In this series, obviously he'll be on Fox. He'll be on [Kevin] Huerter some. He's a weapon. He's one of the best defenders in the league, and winning in the playoffs is all about two-way basketball."
Since Payton usually doesn't start, the Warriors will throw other players at Fox. Donte DiVincenzo likely will be one. Andrew Wiggins might. Maybe even Jonathan Kuminga. Payton will when it matters most, whether that's down the stretch of games or when a fire needs to be put out.
Fox is atop the leaderboard for the first annual NBA Clutch Player of the Year award. He led the league in clutch time points (194) and made over 52.9 percent of shots in such situations. In the Kings' one win against the Warriors this season, that clutch gene showed up.
He didn't even need 10 minutes to score 11 four-quarter points in the Kings' 122-115 win against the Warriors on Nov. 13, going 5 of 6 from the field and hitting his only 3-point attempt.
Among the Warriors' best defenders, Payton is the only one that can match Fox's speed. Fox averaged 25.3 points on 51.3-percent shooting against the Warriors this season. Payton wasn't with the Warriors at the time, though.
As a fellow left-hander, Payton has a unique advantage defending Fox and his 6-foot-8 wingspan wreaks havoc at the worst times.
To no surprise, the Warriors' defense has improved leaps and bounds since Payton returned to the court on March 26. He has a 37.5 steal percentage since then, but it's more about how he makes the defense better around him. Since his return, albeit the competition wasn't the strongest at the end, the Warriors had the NBA's best defensive rating at 106.3. The top three players in defensive win shares to close out the regular season since March 26 were Klay Thompson (0.042), Green (0.040) and DiVincenzo (0.040).
"His addition to the team has just been massive for us," Kerr said. "I think especially going into the postseason, where those kind of guys are worth so much."
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The hope was Payton would fit in fairly easily after being re-acquired. Missing six weeks to an adductor/core muscle issue didn't make matters easier. It ended up just being another hurdle Payton has cleared in his career.
Whether it's the locker room, the bench or the court, the energy is back with Payton in a Warriors jersey.
"The only thing that surprises me is how seamless it is when he's out there, just to be in the right spot at the right time," Steph Curry said Wednesday. "We know he's going to hawk the ball on defense and make plays. Offensively, he just feels very comfortable in what he's asked to do, where he's asked to be, how he plays within our system.
"I'm glad he's healthy, feeling great and feeling stronger each game. You don't have to tell him much. He just goes out, does what he's supposed to do."
Payton's seven-game stretch to end the regular season was a warm-up lap, a tune-up to start the real race. First up is Fox. Getting to the finish line will be a show that might even be worth the price of admission.