The big positive from brutal Golden State Warriors loss against Minnesota

Plagued by poor decision making and woeful turnovers in the final few minutes, the Golden State Warriors suffered a brutal 99-96 loss to the Minnesota Timberwolves at Chase Center on Sunday night.

The defending champions led by one and had possession with 27 seconds left in the game. At that point they could have milked the clock to the final seconds, or forced Minnesota to foul in order to extend the game. Instead, Draymond Green turned the ball over, Karl-Anthony Towns hit a go ahead three in transition, then Jordan Poole turned it over again following the timeout. It was nothing short of a rough ending in a game that had massive playoff implications.

In a disappointing result for the Golden State Warriors on Sunday, the return of Gary Payton II was a major positive to take forward for the franchise.

Gary Payton II made his long-awaited return late in the opening period, receiving a rousing reception from the passionate home crowd. The 30-year-old was incredibly solid in his first game back, looking largely like the impactful presence we saw during last season’s championship run.

Payton played just over 15 minutes, finishing with nine points, two rebounds, an assist and a block in an encouraging display upon return. It’s never been about the box score for him though, and the simple eye test suggested there’s no ill effects from the core/adductor injury that’s seen him play in just 16 games this season.

The defensive menace moved well on both sides of the floor — offensively, he ran the floor and finished his first shot in the paint, got fouled and knocked down two free-throws after hustling for an offensive rebound, made a perfectly timed baseline cut to finish a nice feed from Klay Thompson, and knocked down one of his two corner three-point attempts. Payton shot 3-for-4 from the field in a game where the Warriors shot just 41.5% from the field.

Defensively, his work on the perimeter was at a usual high-level, harassing the likes of Anthony Edwards in a sure fire sign that he can be Golden State’s best point-of-attack defender. Timberwolves players shot 1-for-4 against him as the primary defender, with that one make coming from a driving Kyle Anderson whose size allowed him to finish over the 6’2″ Payton in the paint. He also made one of the highlight plays of the game during the fourth-quarter, athletically coming from behind to block a shot from the seven-foot Towns.

It was a poor finish from the Warriors, however, in the bigger picture of what they hope to achieve this season, the positive of Payton’s return might outweigh the negative of the loss. He hardly missed a beat, giving Steve Kerr another reliable option in a once short rotation.