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Jordan Bell already knew what was going to happen. He was about to get yelled at ... again.

Bell had just committed a turnover against the Portland Trail Blazers, and stood there watching as Evan Turner made his way down the court for a sure layup or dunk. Then, like a flash, Bell played back a traumatic memory in his mind -- Warriors coach Steve Kerr screaming at him for not getting back on defense in a similar situation against the Pelicans just a week earlier.

"I don't think it was my turnover, but their team ran down -- I think it was like 3-on-1 against Klay [Thompson] -- and they missed," Bell recalled. "They got the rebound again and missed again, and I was just standing there. Coach was like, 'Get down there! You're a rookie! That's how you have to be successful on this team. Play hard.' He looked down when they were getting offensive rebounds and I was just standing there and he was like, 'JB, get down there! Rebound!' and I was like, 'Oh God.' Like I was just standing there ball-watching."

When describing the moment, Bell sounds terrified and excited at the same time -- like a teenager talking about the time he got busted by his parents for coming home past curfew. At the end of the play, you can clearly see Kerr throw his arms up in disbelief and stare daggers sharper than Exacto blades in Bell's direction.

So this time, with the Blazers on a 2-on-1 break, Bell wasn't about to make the same mistake.

"I was about to walk down and I was like, 'Oh, I'm gonna get taken out,' so I just ran down and just happened to be in the right place," Bell said. "I didn't want to get yelled at again so I just immediately ran down. I swear, I threw it and I started like pouting and stuff, and I saw a flash where I was like, 'Oh, I'm just gonna run down.' "

As has been the case more often than not this season, Bell ended up making a spectacular play -- maybe even the most impressive of his young, 23-game career. He caught up for a chase-down block on All-Star Damian Lillard's dunk attempt as the crowd roared with the anticipation that they've grown accustomed to any time Bell is anywhere near the action.

The play is a perfect illustration of how the accountability of being a member of a championship team has accelerated Bell's growth exponentially. Every moment of every game, practice or casual conversation is under the harshest scrutiny from coaches and teammates -- all in an effort to turn Bell, a second-round pick, into the player they know he can become.

It doesn't take a deep dive into advanced analytics to see Bell's impact on the court -- all you need to do is open your eyes. His highlight-per-minute ratio is off the charts, which has quickly given him fan-favorite status. Purists will claim that a dunk is just two points, and all blocks are created equal. But the spark Bell provides to his team with his constant, almost superhuman energy goes well beyond the box score.

"JB man, he just plays like a vet, coming in, and just doing his job, playing extremely hard," Kevin Durant said after the Portland win. "That chase down block after the turnover was spectacular, and that play right there kind of got us going. We are going to need that in the future if we want to continue to keep winning."

The Warriors clearly feed off of Bell when he's on the court, which begs the question: Why isn't he playing more?

Like most of Golden State's reserves, Bell's playing time has vacillated greatly -- with a high of 26 minutes to a low of, well, zero. Bell's been a healthy scratch multiple times this season, which defies logic for fans who see what he does on the court.

But for Kerr, it's all about patience. True to his rookie status, Bell has turnover issues when he's on the court, and they're not always followed up by spectacular defensive plays. He misses assignments and picks up silly offensive fouls. He's also continuing to learn the Warriors' complicated read-and-react offense while trying to pick up their switch-everything defense -- no small task for a 22-year-old who said during the preseason that he had very little experience with screen coverages in college and high school, something that's become essential for an NBA big.

But even with his expected faults, Bell is making it harder and harder for Kerr to stay patient.

"We are trying to bring Jordan along slowly, but he makes it hard to keep him off the floor with what he does," Kerr said. "We are pointing out his mistakes and trying to teach him about the NBA game and about his opponents, who he is guarding and what to expect. It comes at you fast as a rookie from one night to the next. You have all these star players, tendencies you have to learn and coverages, terminology and everything else. He's coming along really well and he's been outstanding for us."

Bell has already improved in his pick-and-roll defense, after being thrown into the NBA fray against James Harden and the high-powered Houston Rockets offense in the first game of his career. The difference from then until now, just a span of two months, is like night and day. It probably doesn't hurt that he can watch and learn from the league's reigning Defensive Player of the Year, Draymond Green.

"At first I wasn't being aggressive on defense. I was kind of playing back, letting them decide what they want to do, then trying to play off of it," Bell said. "But I started learning watching Draymond that you've got to dictate what they do and only give them what I give them. Defensively, you're trying to just push up. I know I'm quick enough and fast enough to recover if they try to drive. I'm trying to block shots, things like that. So I'm just trying to take the 3-pointer away and be aggressive on defense."

Watch how Bell first steps up to take away Lillard's deadly pull-up 3-pointer, then uses his lateral quickness to successfully defend Lillard as he drives to the basket.

That type of defensive versatility is something that Kerr drools over, and clearly something that starting center Zaza Pachulia doesn't provide. Kerr said that when Pachulia is out he misses the physicality, intelligence and screen-setting that he brings to the court, but in a league that's increasingly going small, there will certainly be times when playing Bell at center will be most effective.

In two starts with Pachulia and Green out of the lineup this week, Bell averaged 9.5 points, 6.0 rebounds and 5.0 assists in 25 minutes per game, while picking up three steals and a block. He also shot 9-of-11 from the field and had a team-leading net rating of plus-21.5. The man just makes things happen when he's on the court.

It's just the latest example of the Warriors' superior scouting -- the team bought the 38th pick in the draft from the Bulls for $3.5 million, and don't for a second think that it's slipped Bell's mind. In his best game up to that point, Bell put up seven points, six rebounds, four assists, two steals and six blocks against the team that, in Bell's mind, had decided they wanted the money more than they wanted him. He accentuated the point by making the "money" sign with his hands and shouting "3.5" after an and-one toward the end of the game.

Bell can use the Bulls trading him as a chip on his shoulder, but he's the first to admit that falling to the Warriors in the second round was the best thing that could have happened to him.

"People always say that if I was in Chicago or on another team I'd be playing a lot," Bell said. "But I wouldn't have the vets that I have around me helping me out a lot. I wouldn't be able to learn from people who I try to emulate like Draymond, Andre [Iguodala], people like that. I think I'm in a great situation."

Bell certainly didn't feel like he'd be earning the kind of minutes he has for the Warriors, a team that's won two championships and set the standard for NBA excellence over the past three seasons. But he says that Kerr trusting him has given him the confidence to be himself out on the court.

"Obviously coming off a championship run, they didn't need any more help," Bell said. "They lost one game in the playoffs last year. So for me, I just tried to come in and just tried to really make an imprint on this team -- just make sure I impact every game I play. I don't want to be a guy who just rode the wagon. I want to actually be part of some of the success."