SAN FRANCISCO — No team in the NBA is playing defense like the Warriors.
As the top-rated team in the league through seven games, coach Steve Kerr said his players are buying in, too.
“I think we’re starting to build an identity, and it’s very much defensive-minded,” Kerr said Wednesday after Golden State’s 114-92 win over Charlotte. “It’s kind of fun.”
The Warriors are allowing 97.8 points per 100 possessions, the best defensive efficiency in the NBA. The key stretch of their win Wednesday night featured an eight-minute run where they held the Hornets without a field goal and forced seven turnovers.
The sold-out crowd at Chase Center was all in, too.
“You could feel their excitement watching our defense,” Kerr said.
Defense was a calling card of last year’s Warriors team, but they’ve taken another step forward this season.
Golden State finished last season fifth in the NBA in defensive rating, then reacquired Andre Iguodala in free agency.
Another pivotal move came the weekend before the regular season, when Golden State cut down its roster and initially left open the 15th spot. Gary Payton II and Avery Bradley had been battling for the job, but both were cut.
Any team could have signed Payton. Instead, he re-upped on a new contract with Golden State (that doesn’t become guaranteed until Jan. 10) and has flourished into of the biggest contributors off the bench.
Payton has gone from the edge of the roster to one of Kerr’s first substitutions on most nights.
“We are reinvigorated in a lot of ways, and he’s part of that,” Kerr said. “We felt like we could maintain our defensive effort than a year ago, and I actually think we’re better now because of Gary and because of Andre Iguodala.”
The Warriors’ biggest statistical improvements from a year ago have come in defensive rebounding and steals, two categories in which Payton and his veteran teammates have played a role.
Golden State is averaging 40 defensive boards per game, second in the league and a 16% jump from last season. With 9.4 steals per game, the Warriors rank fifth in the league and have seen a similar improvement from a year ago.
Payton needed only 17 minutes to nab three steals against Charlotte, including a robbery of LaMelo Ball that led to a late fastbreak layup. Known for his bulldog defensive attitude, Payton has also made surprising contributions on the boards. (His hops have made the 6-foot-3 guard Stephen Curry’s primary lob target, highlighted by a posterizing finish over Kelly Oubre on an alley-oop feed from Curry in the first half.)
“This is what I’m here for, just come in and spark whatever we need to spark on the defensive end and get us going,” Payton said.
As for that highlight reel slam?
“It’s just two points,” he said. “I’m happy we got a few stops in there and got our team going and got our crowd into it. I think that really pushed us over the hump in the third.”
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