SAN FRANCISCO – A day after one of their worst losses of the 2023-24 NBA season, the Warriors received some good news when coach Steve Kerr announced that Gary Payton II has been cleared and will be available to play against the Dallas Mavericks on Saturday at Chase Center.
Payton has not played since Nov. 28, missing the last 13 games with a calf injury. He returned to practice earlier this week but was held out of Wednesday’s 114-102 home loss to the Heat.
Golden State struggled offensively in the loss to Miami but it’s the Warriors' defense that was has had the most problems lately. They have had only two games in December where they’ve held opponents to fewer than 110 points. Both times -- Dec. 6 and Dec. 23 -- it was the struggling Portland Trail Blazers, who are 8-22 overall.
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Payton’s return should provide a much-needed boost on that end.
“Our defense has not been great lately,” Kerr said after practice Thursday. “We’ve got lot issues in terms of staying in our shell, too many holes in the shell on the weakside, back cuts, things like that.
“Gary’s a great defender. It’ll be good to have him back. We’ll see how we fit him in.”
How much Payton plays is yet to be decided. Having missed more than four weeks while injured, it’s certain that he will have some sort of minutes restriction, although Kerr and his staff have not yet determined how much.
Golden State Warriors
“He has only had little bit of court time so he’s not going to play a ton,” Kerr said. “We don’t have a number right now.”