Category: Basketball

Gary Payton II's invaluable impact returns in Warriors' win over Spurs originally appeared on NBC Sports Bay Area

SAN ANTONIO – The invaluable impact Gary Payton II has provided the Warriors for years returned Wednesday night in their best win of the 2025-26 NBA season, beating the San Antonio Spurs 125-120 at Paycom Center on the second night of a back-to-back. 

Payton’s role at the start of the season has been as small as it ever has with the Warriors. A second-draft pick, Will Richard, quickly leapt him in the pecking order, keeping Payton’s view of games mostly from the bench. The defensive ace had looked a step slow and was prone to fouls, two things that can’t happen for someone who isn’t much of a threat offensively. 

He played 15 minutes of garbage time Tuesday night when the Warriors were blown out in Oklahoma City against the Thunder, and it looked like his services weren’t going to be needed much the next night in San Antonio. Payton replaced Steph Curry for the final 23 seconds of the first half, his only run of the game up to that point. 

The second half was a completely different story, for Payton and the Warriors collectively as a team. 

Payton played 14-plus minutes in the second half and was a plus-9 as the Warriors outscored the Spurs by 12. Darting for the ball and being a nuisance defensively, Payton in that span had four points, six rebounds – four offensive – two assists and one steal. The stars were the show, and Payton was the special sauce behind the scenes that helped them thrive. 

“I thought Gary was fantastic in the second half. And what a pro,” Warriors coach Steve Kerr said. “The guy hasn’t been in the rotation for two weeks, and you never hear anything from him. He stays upbeat, positive. Everybody loves him, and then he always stays ready.”

His game-changing ways began with seven and a half minutes left in the third quarter and the Warriors down by five. Payton’s first offensive rebound led to a Victor Wembanyama foul and two free throws for Curry. The next time down the floor, Payton grabbed a miss from Wemby, gave the ball up to Draymond Green, ran alongside Curry and set a good enough screen on his man that Devin Vassell fouled Steph for three more free throws. Payton on the Warriors’ next offensive possession assisted Moses Moody for a three. 

Later in the third, he snuck behind the Spurs defense for a spinning layup, and his fourth and final rebound of the quarter became a foul on San Antonio and two free throws for Jimmy Butler. 

Those who have been around Payton since he stuck with the Warriors in the 2021-22 championship season are used to this. Al Horford was on the other side of that as a member of the Boston Celtics in the 2022 NBA Finals and poured praise on Payton while answering a question about Curry. 

“Gary Payton just completely changed the game for us in the second half,” Horford said. “His offensive rebounding, defensively – just his impact. I was just very impressed with him, because you know, to be able to be called out like that and he just kept making winning play after winning play. 

“There was a sequence there in the third quarter where he right away instinctively went to Steph on a screen to get him open, and Steph gets fouled for three shots. It’s one of those things that the guy, he just understands how to play. He knows how to play. He’s a winner. I was just impressed with Gary tonight.” 

Payton played the final six and a half minutes of the fourth quarter and came down with two more offensive rebounds in one sequence. First, he found the angle from a missed three from Green and sprinted past Luke Kornet for his third offensive rebound of the game. In the same possession, Payton went from the right corner to the free-throw line to secure a short 3-point attempt by Curry, took one dribble and gave the ball back to a relocated Curry in the corner. 

This time, Curry’s three went down and the Warriors’ lead increased from seven points to 10 with four and a half minutes left in the game. 

The Warriors entered the day ranked 26th in offensive rebounds, a number that highlighted larger issues. All 6-foot-2 of Payton (on a good day) reminded everybody the importance of crashing the offensive glass and keeping possessions alive. 

“Just crash,” he said. “The league’s been changing a lot, so everybody’s crashing. Look at the ball and see where it might end up. Might be short, might be long. Run through the nail and just be in the right area where the ball usually comes from on threes. So, just crash.” 

If you know how to play with Curry, finding him for open shots or freeing him with timely screens, you’re going to get minutes. Payton understands how to get the best out of the Warriors’ superstar as well as anybody. 

He isn’t seen as a star. He isn’t part of the Warriors’ Big Three. But Curry appreciates Payton as much as any of his teammates. 

“It’s huge. He’s a professional. He’s been through this where you got to stay ready,” Curry said. “Whether it’s been him being injured, coming in and out of the lineup or coach’s decision on who he’s putting out there. The way that he impacts the game defensively, we all know that, but he just seems to find himself in the right place at the right time offensively. He knows how to set screens, keep the ball moving and if he’s open shoot it. 

“It’s simple, boring basketball, but it’s winning basketball. And he does a great job of being ready whenever he’s called to go out there and hoop.”

At the end of last season, it looked like Payton’s days with the Warriors could be numbered. Payton wanted otherwise, as did Curry. Payton had to wait and wait and wait like everybody else for Jonathan Kuminga’s restricted free agency, eventually agreeing to terms before Kuminga did. 

There was only one team Payton wanted to keep playing with, and his value that outnumbers stats turned to major impact once again in the biggest win thus far for the Warriors that they had to have.

“It’s the story of my career,” Payton said. “Don’t play, I play. Might not play, then I get thrown back into the fire. It’s another day at work. Staying ready, being ready, that’s it. 

“Whatever I can do to help out the team. Just go in and make plays. Try to get the ball to certain guys, and just do the little things.”  

Patience and perseverance paid off for Payton. Respect the game, and it rewards you in return.

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Stephen Curry scored 46 points as the Golden State Warriors inflicted a first home NBA defeat of the season on the San Antonio Spurs.

The two-time Most Valuable Player (MVP) helped the Warriors end a six-game losing streak on the road with a 125-120 victory at Frost Bank Center in Texas.

Victor Wembanyama and Stephon Castle became the first Spurs players to record triple-doubles in the same game, but Curry scored 29 points in the second half as the Warriors outscored the Spurs 76-64.

"That third quarter is what we do - getting stops, pushing, creating easy offence. Thankfully I was able to knock a couple down," Curry said.

Jimmy Butler contributed 28 points and eight assists for the Warriors, while Moses Moody scored 19 points.

Thunder thrash Lakers

Reigning MVP Shai Gilgeous-Alexander recorded 30 points, five rebounds and nine assists as defending champions the Oklahoma City Thunder thrashed the Los Angeles Lakers 121-92.

The Thunder led by 37 points at one stage, allowing Gilgeous-Alexander and other starters to sit out the fourth quarter at Paycom Center.

Five-time All-Star pick Luka Doncic managed 19 points and seven assists for the Lakers, before being subbed when the result was all but confirmed by the final quarter.

Thunder are top of the Western Conference with a 12-1 record.

"We definitely got better the last two days and that's the main goal," said Gilgeous-Alexander.

Jokic downs Clippers

Nikola Jokic scored 55 points, including 25 in the first quarter, as the Denver Nuggets extended their winning run to six games with a 130-116 victory at the Los Angeles Clippers.

The three-time MVP also claimed 12 rebounds and six assists at Intuit Dome in Inglewood, California.

It is the fourth time that Jokic has scored at least 50 points in a regular season game.

NBA results in full

Mike Brown thought the Knicks got their "a—es" kicked by the Magic on Wednesday. But that wasn’t the worst thing to happen to Brown’s team.  

Late Wednesday, Jalen Brunson was leaving the locker room in a protective boot and on crutches. A reporter from The Athletic saw Brunson leaving the locker room in the boot and crutches. A league source confirmed that Brunson did indeed leave The Garden on crutches with his right foot in a boot.  

Brunson rolled his ankle with 1:52 to go in the game. We don’t know the specific injury or the severity of the injury, but the Knicks left MSG knowing that Brunson had suffered a legitimate injury. 

Oftentimes, you don’t know the true severity of an injury until the player wakes up the next morning. Maybe Brunson wakes up on Thursday feeling great. But he left Wednesday’s game like a player who knew he was hurt. Shortly after Brunson turned his ankle, he intentionally fouled Jalen Suggs to stop the game. (The Knicks trailed Orlando by 15 at the time.) Rather than going back to the Knicks bench, Brunson went directly to the Knicks locker room. 

KNICKS WITHOUT BRUNSON

If Brunson is out – and it’s safe to assume that he’ll miss Friday’s game against Miami, at a minimum – what do the Knicks do?

I assume they’d go with Miles McBride at point guard. Brown has been creative with his lineups/rotations early in the season. So maybe he goes in a different direction. 

Regardless of who is in or out of the starting lineup, the Knicks have a lot to clean up ahead of their matchup with the Heat. 

TOO MUCH TALKING TO REFS

Orlando neutralized the Knicks on the boards. They were the aggressor for much of the night, shooting ten more free throws than the Knicks. Brown didn’t seem to have an issue with how the game was called. He was instead disappointed in how his team engaged with the refs. 

“In the first half, everything that happened on the court we blamed on the officials. And that was disappointing to see because we were the culprits of a lot of stuff that happened out on the floor,” Brown said. “Six of their first eight points came from the free throw line and we fouled them. I couldn’t even use a challenge because we were fouling. If one of our keys is to play physical without fouling, but our first six points, first three or four possessions that they had, start at the free throw line, then we’re not giving ourselves a chance and we’re letting them get comfortable with the way that they play.”

The Magic took 33 free throws; the Knicks had 23 attempts from the line. Brown felt the Knicks didn’t crash the offensive glass as well as they should have. Usually, if you don’t crash the offensive glass, you can get back and defend well in transition. That wasn’t the case for the Knicks on Wednesday. 

“Shot went up and everybody just watched and then jogged back,” Brown said. “…. The way we chart it, they still scored 33 fast break points against us for the game.”

Brown obviously didn’t like his team’s approach on the board. But he was more bothered by the Knicks’ reaction to the refs. 

“I personally think that it doesn’t matter how the game is being called. If we’re locked in and we’re playing like we’re capable of, we don’t need to rely not eh officials making this call or that call,” Brown said. “Our focus in that area was not where it should have been.”

Mikal Bridges agreed with Brown’s assessment. 

“Got to leave the refs alone. Even if there’s fouls or something, everybody makes mistakes,” Bridges said. “Just got to, let it go and bring energy to the other end.”

BIG MINUTES FOR LANDRY

Landry Shamet was the first sub off the bench on Wednesday. He was also on the floor to close the game. In all, Shamet played 27 minutes – the most of any Knick reserve. Josh Hart played 18 minutes.

Brown went with Mitchell Robinson in the starting lineup on Wednesday and had Miles McBride in over Bridges to close the game.

“Yeah, I was just trying to spark something defensively, offensively. Deuce hit a couple threes. I thought he was pretty good defensively. Same with Landry; I thought he was pretty good defensively; he hit a couple of shots,” Brown said. “So I was just trying to go with, find the combination that I thought could possibly get it done on both ends. Just searching.”

Brown clearly isn’t afraid to try different combinations of players as he feels things out with his team.

NO EXCUSES

Brown was asked after the game if the Knicks were tired on Wednesday because it was the second game of a back-to-back.

“Nah, we're a no-excuse team and if we're a no-excuse team, we've gotta go play the right way as best we can and not lay the blame any place else except square on us,” the coach said. “So it doesn't matter if we play three games in a row, we've gotta go figure it out, and if we can't, maybe I need to go deeper into the bench and play guys lesser minutes. Maybe that's where I can help them, but we can't sit here and say. ‘We played last night and they did this.’ No, go win the game, play the right way, leave it on the floor, and if you leave it on the floor the right way, you're not gonna win them all, then you'll take an L and move onto the next one. I just didn't think we did a great job doing what we're supposed to do to set the tone, especially at the beginning of the game.”

The coach also felt the Knicks didn’t handle the Magic’s attempts to get a bigger player matched up with a Knicks guard on their offensive possessions.

“When that happened, our smaller guys did not do their work early. What I mean by that is that they let the bigger guy walk them – or run them – all the way down to the charge line (near the basket) and then we tried to start fighting,” Brown said. “And one of our main rules is if you’re guarding a bigger guy, you’ve gotta stand him up; at least at the top of the key. We didn’t do that.”

The coach also felt the Knicks didn’t do enough to combat the mismatches when guarding Orlando’s pick-and-roll.

“We were getting cracked on the pick and roll – or the DHO (dribble hand off) because we weren’t up into the ball,” the coach said. “So our big ended up taking the ball and they ended up rolling us to the post and we didn’t do a good job recognizing it and trying to switch as they rolled a small down to the post.”

BRUNSON OFF THE BALL 

Before the game, Brown was asked if he uses Steph Curry as a model in any way for how Brunson plays off the ball.

Brown, who coached Curry as an assistant in Golden State, said that he has used Curry as a template for his own point guards.

“I always felt that if I every had a team, I don’t care what my point guard is like, I’m going to try to get him off the ball so that he’s comfortable with it during the regular season and then come playoff time, teams can’t sit on it and say, he’s dominant in the pick-and-roll so let’s keeping it out of his hands,” the coach said. “Now you got to defend him in a lot of different ways. Not only that, it’ll be hard to just get up and deny him,  bully him, because he’s not just going back to get the ball every time. If the defense wants to play you this way, go to the corner. The ball will find you if we’re moving and spacing the right way. That’s what I did with (De’Aaron Fox in Sacramento). He’s a pick-and-roll dominant guy, ball in his hands. And that’s what I’m trying to do with Jalen.”

Dalton Knecht soared through the air for an emphatic two-handed dunk. Luka Doncic, who fired the full-court assist on the basket, looked at the Lakers bench and clapped twice in encouragement. But nothing was going to help the Lakers crawl out of this.

Unlike the blowout loss in Atlanta last Saturday, it appeared the Lakers were at least mentally prepared to compete against the league-leading Oklahoma City Thunder on Wednesday. The problem in the 121-92 loss was that they simply could not keep up.

Reigning most valuable player Shai Gilgeous-Alexander had 30 points on 10 for 18 shooting with nine assists. The Lakers’ own MVP hopeful Doncic had 19 points, making just seven of 20 shots with seven assists and four turnovers.

“We got our ass kicked,” said guard Marcus Smart, who was held to nine points with two turnovers. “And we got to bounce back.” 

Crossing into the homestretch of their first extended road trip of the season, the Lakers (8-4) have two games remaining, playing in New Orleans and Milwaukee on Friday and Saturday, respectively. The five-game stretch, which started with a rout by Atlanta and a win in Charlotte, has provided mixed results. The team celebrated its connection and chemistry off the court, but is still trying to find solid footing after major offseason changes and early season injuries. 

“I don't think it's been a great road trip for us, just in terms of how we played,” coach JJ Redick said. “Second half against Charlotte, I liked everything that I saw. But the Atlanta game [and] tonight, I don't think are reflective of who the group is going to be, but it clearly is who the group is right now."

Read more:How one aspect of Rui Hachimura's game reminds JJ Redick of Michael Jordan

The group could change again soon after LeBron James practiced with the G League South Bay Lakers on Wednesday. The 40-year-old working his way back from right sciatica participated in five-on-five in the halfcourt. Redick estimated that James got from 12 to 15 possessions of live contact during the workout.

“I think it was also an incredible opportunity for Zach [Guthrie, South Bay Lakers head coach] and his staff and all the guys that are with South Bay right now to have that experience,” Redick said before the game. “But the reports are that he looked good and was moving well.”

When Austin Reaves heard James would be assigned to South Bay, the guard joked the NBA’s all-time leading scorer should play in a game with the G League team.

Next week, when the Lakers have just one game against the Utah Jazz at home on Tuesday, could provide a window of opportunity for James to return at least to the practice court. But when asked if James would practice with the Lakers on Monday when the team returned to L.A., Redick deflected.

“That’s four days away,” Redick said. “So I have no idea on that.”

Read more:How the Lakers use Japanese slideshow presentations to build chemistry

Even shorthanded themselves and playing their second game in as many nights, the Thunder (12-1) showed the desperation and intensity fitting of a champion. 

Without top defender Luguentz Dort (right upper trap strain) and All-NBA guard Jalen Williams (right wrist), Oklahoma City still held the Lakers to just 37.5% from the field through three quarters while extending the lead to 36 points. The Lakers entered the game with the NBA’s highest shooting percentage at 51.2%.

The Thunder held the Lakers without a made field goal for almost eight minutes to start the second quarter. The lead ballooned to 32 as Oklahoma City doubled up the Lakers 64-32 with a three-pointer from Isaiah Joe with 2:10 remaining in the first half. The Lakers scored just 38 points in the first half.

“They're champions for a reason,” Doncic said. “So they showed that today."

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This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.

Jalen Brunson appeared to sustain a right ankle injury in Wednesday night's loss to the Orlando Magic and was later seen leaving Madison Square Garden in a walking boot.

Brunson, who turned his right ankle driving the lane late in the fourth quarter, was seen by SNY NBA Insider Ian Begley leaving the arena with a boot and using crutches.

After the 124-107 loss to Orlando, head coach MikeBrown said that the guard "turned his right ankle, but that's all I know."

Brunson, who led the Knicks with 31 points on 10-for-23 shooting, sustained the injury when he stepped on Magic big man Wendell Carter Jr.'s foot as he was driving the lane with 1:54 to play in the game.

He hobbled to the free-throw line and made one of two attempts, but then gingerly walked up to an Orlando player for an intentional foul to get himself out of the game. Brunson then immediately turned and walked to the Knicks locker room, having fouled out moments after Brown emptied the bench.

There was no further word on the possible severity of the injury.

Brunson up a little gimpy pic.twitter.com/5wKZBfjLCv

— New York Basketball (@NBA_NewYork) November 13, 2025