Veteran guard Gary Payton II has chosen the perfect time to deliver one of his best performances in recent seasons, producing a shock double-double to help the Golden State Warriors to an ugly 104-96 win over the New Orleans Pelicans on Saturday night.
The Warriors found themselves down one in the final minutes of a low-scoring game, only for Payton to play his part in an 11-0 run that secured victory in the absence of 2x MVP Stephen Curry.
Gary Payton II dropped a double-double against the Pelicans
Payton finished with a season-high in both points (19) and rebounds (11), putting tan exclamation mark on things with a corner three that put the result beyond doubt. The 32-year-old shot 9-of-14 in his 25 minutes off the bench, finishing as a +13 which only sat behind Golden State star Jimmy Butler in terms of plus-minus.
Payton may have delivered the surprise performance that the Warriors desperately needed without Curry, but it was Butler who ran the show in his 37 minutes despite a couple of hard falls that had fans holding their breath.
The 6x All-Star finished out the game in superb fashion, dropping 24 points, eight rebounds and 10 assists in a dominant near triple-double. Golden State outscored New Orleans by 22 in Butler’s minutes, with their offense continuing to prove anaemic without one of their two stars on the floor.
GP2 DAGGER 🔥 pic.twitter.com/9RQ7v829Nn
— Warriors on NBCS (@NBCSWarriors) November 30, 2025
The home team’s 3-point shooting was always going to take a dip without the greatest shooter of all-time, but no one would have expected the extent to which the struggles occured from beyond the arc.
The Warriors started the game 2-of-22 from 3-point range, before eventually finishing 12-of-27 (25.5%) in a game where they only just scratched over 40% shooting from the floor overall. Fortunately Butler helped limit the turnovers to only nine, while the Pelicans themselves only shot 37.2% from the floor as they struggled without Trey Murphy III, Jordan Poole and Dejounte Murray.
Five Golden State players got to double digit scoring, including Jonathan Kuminga who made his return from a seven-game absence due to knee tendinitis. The former seventh overall pick had 10 points and two assists in just under 19 minutes off the bench, shooting 4-of-8 from the floor which included a pair of big threes in the fourth-quarter.
Kevon Looney had four points and five rebounds in his return to Chase Center for the first time since departing the franchise in free agency, having received a tribute video and big ovation prior to tip-off.
It was Butler and Payton who were the stars on the floor though, elevating the Warriors to an 11-10 record ahead of a daunting matchup with the reigning champion Oklahoma City Thunder on Tuesday.
