Veteran duo providing rare output that makes Warriors unbeatable

The Golden State Warriors easily handled the Sacramento Kings with a 130-104 victory at Chase Center on Thursday night. The game was highlighted by Jonathan Kuminga’s return and Stephen Curry hitting his 4000th career 3-pointer.

With the win, the Warriors are now 38-28, winners of six straight games, and have a 13-1 record with the newly acquired Jimmy Butler in the lineup. Golden State are one of the hottest teams in the NBA, and on Thursday night, something happened that makes them virtually unbeatable. 

A lot of this Warriors surge is due to their increased defensive presence, having become become one of the best teams in the league on that end since Butler's arrival. Draymond Green and Gary Payton II are probably the team’s two best defenders, yet on Thursday night they showed even more of what they're capable of.

The Warriors are unbeatable when Draymond Green and Gary Payton II are hitting shots

Although Curry and Kuminga were the headline-grabbers from the game, there were two other players who had big nights as well -- Draymond Green and Gary Payton II. Green was tied for the game’s high scorer with 23 points, and Payton had 11 points on super-efficient shooting. 

Green added four rebounds and four assists to his 23 points, having shockingly taken the most shots on the team in going 8-of-14 from the field and 4-of-7 from deep. Payton was 3-of-4 from three, making it his second hot shooting night from deep in a row.  

Although Green has had scoring nights like this in the past, and Payton’s 11 points seem measly compared to his career-high 26 points the other night against the Trail Blazers, both of these performances were crucial in the Warriors demolishing the Kings. 

The reality is, if Green and GPII are scoring like they did in this game, the Warriors are damn near unstoppable. One of the Warriors only weaknesses is that they have certain players who can defend but are not offensive threats. Draymond at least has elite playmaking skills, but when his shot isn’t falling, he provides no spacing. Payton has even fewer offensive skills, which also hurts the Warriors spacing. 

However, when those two players are hitting from deep, the defense has nowhere to hide. Nights like Thursday won’t happen a ton, but if Green and Payton can continue to shoot well from three, the Warriors will have the defensive dominance and offensive potential to beat any team in the NBA.