SAN FRANCISCO — Draymond Green couldn’t help but raise his hands to the sky and shimmy in celebration. He found his alley oop partner.
In one motion, an airborne Gary Payton II secured Green’s one-armed, arcing pass and slammed it home as the dagger Golden State had been seeking all evening to pull away from the one-win Rockets for their fourth straight blowout victory, 120-107.
“I thought Draymond threw the ball over his head on that one,” coach Steve Kerr said afterward.
“It did look kind of out of reach,” Payton said.
But, alas, Payton corralled the ball and finished the play.
“I told (Green) I’d never leave him out there, so I just made sure to go up and put a hand up,” Payton said.
“The guy is so athletic, but he’s got long arms too. He’s got great timing on those lobs,” added Kerr.
GARY ARE YOU KIDDING pic.twitter.com/Amo1IgpO7u
— Golden State Warriors (@warriors) November 8, 2021
The latest highlight on the reel of Golden State’s newfound lob threat gave the Warriors their 11th and 12th points on a 15-0 run at the end of the third quarter that broke the game open for good.
At 8-1, the Warriors own the best record in the NBA and are the last team left with a single loss. They’ve won four in a row, all by double digits.
Houston was able to hang close into the third quarter as the sharp sounds of officials’ whistles pervaded Chase Center.
By the midway point of the third quarter, the Rockets had already attempted and made more free throws than any Warriors opponent this season. They finished with 37 attempts from the foul line but sank them at only a 67.6% clip (25-37).
“I agreed with the whistles. We deserved them all,” Kerr said. “We were fouling like crazy.”
Jordan Poole was whistled for five personal fouls, while Green and Nemanja Bjelica were also called for four each as the Warriors racked up a season-high 27 whistles.
After emphasizing defending without fouling throughout training camp, the Warriors had taken to the message so well, they hadn’t discussed it in weeks, Kerr said.
“We took a step backward in that regard tonight, so we have to clean that up,” Kerr said.
Poole also made it to the stripe a season-high nine times — and sank them all — a game after being chastised by Andre Iguodala for his “Klay stat lines” (full of points but devoid of much else). With 25 points, the third-year guard led the Warriors in scoring for the third straight game but also contributed four rebounds and five assists.
Green dished out a season-high nine assists to lead the Warriors while collecting eight rebounds (his sixth straight game with at least eight boards). Curry, who came out for extra stretches of rest, finished second to Poole with 20 points.
Yet again, the Warriors got huge contributions from their bench. Golden State outscored the Rockets by 27 points in the 19 minutes Payton was on the floor and by 21 in Bjelica’s 14 minutes.
Otto Porter Jr.’s 15 points were fourth on the team, behind Andrew Wiggins’ 16. For a moment at the end of the first half, the ninth-year wing took over the game.
Porter stepped back for one 3, grabbed a rebound on the other end, raced back and sank another from distance, then forced a steal and pulled up for his third triple in a span of 40 seconds, drawing a reaction from the bench rivaled only by Payton’s emphatic slam.
Porter’s trifecta of triples helped Golden State turn its only deficit in this one back to a lead by halftime.
The Warriors fell behind as much as 49-45 with 6:29 left in the half, and Porter entered with 2:29 left and a one-point lead. By the time the buzzer sounded for intermission, the Warriors had built a 69-61 advantage.
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