Warriors expected to start Gary Payton II in Game 4 vs. Lakers, per sources:

The Warriors are expected to start Gary Payton II in Game 4 of their Western Conference semifinal series against the Lakers on Monday, league sources told The Athletic. Here’s what you need to know:

• Payton has averaged 14.4 minutes across nine games in the playoffs so far. He’s averaged 5.6 points on 62.2 percent shooting, along with 3.7 rebounds.
• The Warriors have rotated their fifth starter throughout the series. They used their standard lineup (Stephen Curry, Klay Thompson, Draymond Green, Andrew Wiggins and Kevon Looney) in Game 1, then swapped Looney for JaMychal Green in games 2 and 3.
• The Lakers lead the series 2-1. Game 4 tips off at 10 p.m. ET in Los Angeles.

The Athletic’s instant analysis:

Why Payton?

With him, always point to the defensive end of the floor first. D’Angelo Russell scored 11 straight points to open Game 3, finding breathing room and a rhythm from 3 because Thompson was mostly wandering off of him. I’d expect Payton to get the Russell assignment from tip, tasked with shutting off that water while they’ll presumably attempt to target Russell on the other end. — Slater

What’s the risk?

Payton is not a floor spacer. The reason for lifting Looney and inserting JaMychal Green was about stretching the Lakers’ defense thin and generating more room for the Curry and Draymond Green pick-and-roll. The Lakers reconfigured their matchups and held Anthony Davis away from Draymond in Game 3 as opposed to Game 2.

JaMychal didn’t hit his 3s. The Warriors had several options to replace JaMychal. The offensive, floor-spacing choice would’ve been Jordan Poole. But Poole has struggled and that’d leave them susceptible defensively.

So they went with Payton, believing his defense will be a boost and he can remain effective offensively/as a high-energy slasher if he is being ignored. — Slater

Required reading

(Photo: Cary Edmondson / USA Today)