How Warriors' Damion Lee made good on Eric Paschall's faith in him

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SAN FRANCISCO -- Eric Paschall had a question for Damion Lee in the closing seconds of the Warriors' 118-114 win over the 76ers on Saturday night at Chase Center. 

"What I tell you?" Paschall screamed rhetorically.

"What I tell you?" the rookie screamed once more.

Paschall's inquisitive nature was born less than 48 hours earlier, when a troubling sequence from Lee turned a winnable game against the Raptors into a bitter defeat. But the rookie's inquiry came on the end of a 24-point performance from Lee that included clutch play to make good on Paschall's faith.

"It's huge," Lee said of Paschall's support. "That goes to show what kind of people they are, what kind of organization we have. This is a brotherhood, and obviously, we go through ups and downs, we're always going to show up and defend each other."

Paschall's defense came following a unique sequence for Lee. Despite scoring 23 points against Toronto on Thursday, he missed two free-throw attempts in the final 30 seconds that could've brought the Warriors within a point. Then he missed a wide-open 3-pointer. Making matters worse, he then committed a clear-path foul, essentially sealing Golden State's 49th loss of the season.

The sequence led to widespread criticism on social media. The slander caught the eye of Paschall, who thumbed two responses on Twitter.

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"People over here slandering @Dami0nLee but my man played a hell of a game!," Paschall wrote. "Some of y’all don’t understand this man's journey!"

"This my dawg!" Paschall wrote in another tweet. "It’s bigger than ball!"

"People forget the whole game after he had a little rough sequence, which is out of his control. " Paschall told NBC Sports Bay Area after Saturday's win. "He had a good look at the top of the key, he had a good look at the free-throw line. Both went in and out."

"I saw too much slander on Twitter, and I feel like people forgot that he had a good game, so I did it. You always got to have your teammate's back no matter what."

Paschall's support seemed to work two nights later. Under the same circumstances, Lee flourished, taking over down the stretch.

Four minutes into the fourth quarter, Lee received a ball screen from Marquese Chriss, drove into the lane and dropped in a floater to get Golden State within four. Five minutes later, he dropped in another floater to tie the score. A minute after, he hit a left-handed layup to give the Warriors a one-point lead they never relinquished.

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By the end of the stretch, Lee had scored nine of his team-high 24 points, helping the Warriors outscore the Sixers 36-24 in the fourth quarter and making good on Paschall's words while denying the spotlight.

"I hate things being about me," Lee said. "I just want to enjoy the game and be surrounded by love and surrounded by my teammates. What happened on Thursday happened, but the beauty about the league is you play basically every other day."

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