The Golden State Warriors are one of the best teams in the NBA, even if there is no one of the best players in the injured Thompson. This is not just because of Stephen Curry.

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Before a game in San Francisco, he was on the court, wearing the uniform that other members of the team wore against the Charlotte Hornets that night-striped socks, etc. Golden State Warriors guard Klay Thompson ran near the three-point line for a few minutes to practice three-pointers.

He is close to returning. He can feel it. His teammates can feel it.

In the past few months, Thompson has been out for more than two years due to two serious leg injuries, and he has been allowed to try the types of moves he will use in the game. These moves helped him score 37 points in a single quarter or 60 points with only 11 dribbles.

"Once he gets to that stage, it's like a dark cloud rising," Golden State Warriors coach Steve Kerr said.

Not just Thompson, the whole team.

They scored 6-1 in Wednesday's game with the Utah Jazz and the Miami Heat to become the league's best record. They defeated an exciting young Hornets team 114-92. While his teammates are waiting for Thompson, they have ensured that they will be a legitimate threat to win the Western Conference after his return.

"We are playing a game, so we just want to stick to it," said defender Jordan Poole, who scored 31 points and grabbed 4 steals on Wednesday.

In the absence of Thompson, Poole, as the team's starting shooting guard, is an important part of the Golden State Warriors' recent success. He relied on Thompson and Stephen Curry to handle the ebb and flow of that position. Wednesday's game was after Poole's shooting relatively declined, and he became equally aggressive. In the game against the Hornets, he made 16 three-pointers and made 7 of them.

The Golden State Warriors drafted Poole at the end of the first round of 2019. This was the last of five consecutive NBA finals, which resulted in three championships-just after Thompson's left anterior cruciate ligament tore. So began an unusual reconstruction project.

The Golden State Warriors strengthened the lineup with lottery picks while waiting for Thompson's knee injury and Curry injury. Then Thompson tore his right Achilles tendon in November 2020.

That month, the Golden State Warriors selected James Wiseman with the second overall pick in the draft. This year he also missed due to injury. Jonathan Cuminga, the seventh pick in this year's draft, also missed due to injury, delaying his development.

Cole said the most important thing is that Curry felt uncomfortable on Wednesday.

For a while, the Hornets took advantage of some of the hasty performance of the Golden State Warriors. Cole was caught pouting in the first quarter.

Forward Draymond Green noticed and told him to cheer up. The team needs his energy.

"I'm a little embarrassed," Cole told reporters after the game, laughing at the thought of this. "After all the mistakes, I thought,'Okay, okay, whatever.' Act like they are outside. This is not my best moment as a coach."

However, the team has repeatedly shown this season that it has developed enough depth to overcome challenges, whether it is self-created or otherwise.

Wednesday proved that this strong defensive performance is crucial. The Hornets entered the game as the league's highest-scoring team, and the Golden State Warriors kept them below 100 points. A dazzling young team with two new stars in Ramello Ball (14 points and 8 assists on Wednesday) and Miles Bridges (32 points and 9 rebounds) in the third quarter Attended a history lesson. That was when the Golden State Warriors liked to play.

When the Golden State Warriors ruled the league a few years ago, their opponents' performance in the first half didn't matter—the Golden State Warriors' reign in the third quarter would bury them.

The script for Wednesday night is a bit different.

In the game against the Hornets, Gary Payton II injected vitality into the team with unforgettable dunks, steals, blocks and deflections.

"That's why I am here," he said. "Just come in and motivate everything we need to motivate on the defensive end and let us move forward. You know our offense, we can do anything."

As the son of Hall of Fame guard Gary Payton, he won the 15th Golden State Warriors lineup with his defense. The 28-year-old skilled worker has 3 steals and 1 block, scoring 14 points and earning him a fixed playing time in the way Cole said.

"We started to build an identity, which is very defensive," Kerr said. "It's interesting."

After Payton's aggressive final game, Cole wanted the audience to cheer for him. He removed him from the game with 2:23 left, so that fans could chant his name. As they did, Cole noticed that Green also applauded Payton from the free throw line.

Thompson, his light uniform in exchange for black denim, did not participate in the game, but he was not absent either. He sat on the bench, marveling at the team in front of him-especially Payton.

"I can watch Gary Payton II's defense all night," he wrote on Twitter shortly after the game.

When asked about Thompson’s tweets, Payton said: “I can watch Klay Thompson shoot all day. I can’t wait to watch the whole game.”

Kerr said he has no intention of urging Thompson because he knows that when a player recovers from an Achilles tendon injury, he needs patience.

"Generally speaking, those who have waited for a whole year do a lot better," Cole said before Wednesday's game. Thompson underwent surgery to repair the Achilles tendon on November 25, 2020. After a few months, what else is there?