Once again, the Golden State Warriors defense did not appear in a road game. The Dubs couldn’t stop for their lives, and dropped their seventh straight road game, losing 138-127 to Oklahoma City Thunder. The momentum from the five-game winning streak – all at home, but without Steve Curry and Andrew Wiggins – has evaporated.
It’s time to bring out a full set of red pens and rate your players. As always, scores are weighted based on expectations, with a grade of “B” representing average player performance.
Note: The true shooting percentage (TS) is a measure of scoring efficiency that accounts for threes and free throws. The average TS for the league is 58.0%.
Draymond Green
33 minutes, 11 points, 1 rebound, 11 assists, 1 steal, 2 turnovers, 2 fouls, 5-for-7 shooting, 1-on-1 triple, 78.6% TS, +4
Draymond is closer to the Warriors’ solution than to their problem now. But he’s still the first person anyone looks to when a team is struggling to play good defense, fair or not.
It was a wonderful insult at this, as a playmaker, screen setter, and even scorer.
But his D isn’t as good as it’s capable of being, and the Warriors need a lot more bounce from their frontcourt than they got in this one.
Grade B-
Post-game reward: He led the team in assists and plus/minus.
Jonathan Cuminga
28 minutes, 21 points, 3 rebounds, 2 assists, 2 steals, 2 turnovers, 2 fumbles, 8-for-11 shooting, 1-for-3 three-pointers, 4-for-4 free throws, 82.3% TS, +3
This game was a shining example of what the Kuminga warriors wanted to do when attacking. His athleticism was on full display, with numerous dunks, dribbles, and free throws earned cut-to-edge with good timing and authority. He only took jumpers when it was wide open or the shot clock was ticking, working from the inside out. great.
However, it wasn’t a good defensive game for him. He had his moments, but was a little anxious on some plays, slow to spin on others. The Warriors were outscored 44-33, and Cuminga’s combination with Greene for just four boards was a big part of the reason.
b grade
Steve Curry
35 minutes, 40 points, 6 rebounds, 7 assists, 6 turnovers, 4 fouls, 14-for-23 shooting, 10-for-16 triples, 2-for-2 free throws, 83.6% TS, -2
Despite some crazy moments, the Warriors had a really good offensive game. And Curry was the main reason behind that.
The chef was immersed in his bag in this bag, and pulled out all the stops to drain the water three times after three times. He hit them when the Warriors were trailing and desperately needed a shot. He beat them when they were running and stealing momentum.
It was awesome. Brutal turnover numbers were the only blemish on an excellent day in the office, but honestly a lot of them were just miscommunication with teammates rather than just bad play.
Grade: a
Post-game reward: He led the team in points.
Clay Thompson
40 minutes, 23 points, 4 rebounds, 2 assists, 1 steal, 1 block, 2 turnovers, 1 foul, 9-for-17 shooting, 5-for-13 three, 67.7% TS, -10
All I can really say is that when the Splash Brothers combine to score 63 points on 15-for-29 shooting from deep, and the Warriors lose, another controversial thing has happened.
a-
Donte Divincenzo
33 minutes, 7 points, 6 rebounds, 7 assists, 3 steals, 2 turnovers, 5 fouls, 2-for-8 shooting, 1-for-6 three-pointers, 2-for-2 free throws, 39.4% TS, -10
DiVincenzo sinks into a stretch where he does everything well excludes shooting. Over his last four games, he has shot 7-for-29 from the field and 5-for-21 in three.
He does a lot of other things well, and hopefully he and Curry will use the trip to Memphis to point out that they grabbed three times as many rebounds as Green and Kuminga in this game.
DiVincenzo’s defensive performance has never been the best.
Grade: C+
Post-game reward: Tied to lead the team in assists.
Andre Iguodala
12 min, 2 points, 2 rebounds, 3 assists, 3 turnovers, 1-on-1 shooting, 100.0% TS, -14
Iguodala’s first-quarter stint was huge, and it played a huge role for the Dubs to overcome their first triple-double-digit deficit. He struggled a bit more when he played in the second half.
Grade: c
Post-game reward: The worst plus / minus in the team.
Jamical Green
13 minutes, 9 points, 3 rebounds, 1 pass, 1 pass, 1 block, 1 turnover, 2 fouls, 2-on-3 shooting, 1-on-2, 4 free throws 4-on-4, 94.5% TS, -3
Steve Kerr finds out when JMG publishes. In half of Green’s games, he only played a few minutes and looked really bad. In the other half, he plays a good part of the minutes and looks great. Kerr finds out which matches work best.
Green was great in this game. He provided energy when the team needed it most, but more importantly he made some shots, grabbed some boards, and played decent enough defense.
Grade: A-
Kevon Looney
11 minutes, 4 points, 5 rebounds, 1 steal, 3 turnovers, 3 fouls, 2-for-4 shooting, 0-for-2 free throws, 41.0% TS, -8
Looney was a late addition to the injury determination and game time decision. Was that why he came off the bench and played a few minutes and didn’t play well? Very likely.
We don’t know how vulnerable he is, so his poor score depends on his rating relative to my normal expectations, but I think Lonnie had good reason to play poorly.
Grade: C-
Patrick Baldwin Jr
4 minutes, 0 points, 0-on-3 shots, 0-on-3 triple-sets, 0.0% TS, -2
Baldwin’s shooting has subsided recently. After starting the season 28-for-59 from Deep, he has gone 1-for-11 in his last four games. However, I don’t have any issues with any of the shots I take.
Grade: c
Jordan Paul
32 minutes, 11 points, 3 rebounds, 3 assists, 1 block, 2 fouls, 4-for-12 shooting, 1-for-7 triples, 2-for-2 free throws, 42.7% TS, -3
I’m not sure what to say about Paul that I haven’t said in his other recent games. He, as the children say, is passing by. And it gets more difficult to watch.
I thought he started this game well, attacking the edge more rather than settling for low percentage players who have dominated his game lately. Then he returned to those habits. He’s 4-for-22 from three-point range in his last three matches, and 20-for-77 in his last nine, as his percentage reaches Westbrookian levels. Unlike Baldwin and DiVincenzo, she’s not a cold jumper at good shots. It’s just bad shots.
He is credited with not turning the ball over. He credited him with not losing his mind when he was called upon for one of the weakest technical fouls you will see in your entire life.
But it’s hard to give much credit behind that.
Grade: D+
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