It’s been a good first week of the season for the Golden State Warriors, but that could have changed on Monday. After strong wins over the Los Angeles Lakers and Denver Nuggets last week, the Dubs got
blown out by the likely lottery-bound Portland Trail Blazers on Friday. So Monday’s game against the Memphis Grizzlies felt like a chance to prove that Friday’s loss was just a blip on the radar … with a loss sending some warning signals that perhaps the first two games of the year were smoke and mirrors.
Thankfully, they took their chance and ran with it. The Warriors bested the Grizzlies 131-118 in a game that wasn’t as close as the not-particularly-close score suggests. Golden State’s lead was in the 20 range for much of the fourth quarter, before some garbage time window dressing made it a little more respectable for Memphis.
So let’s grade the players who earned the third win of the year. As always, grades are based on my expectations for each player, with a “B” grade representing the average performance for that player.
Note: True-shooting percentage (TS) is a scoring efficiency metric that accounts for threes and free throws. Last year, league-average TS was 57.6%.
Jimmy Butler III
31 minutes, 20 points, 5 rebounds, 5 assists, 5 turnovers, 6-for-8 shooting, 2-for-2 threes, 6-for-8 free throws, 86.8% TS, +8
A remarkably quiet 20-5-5 for Butler, and I mostly mean that as a compliment. His selflessness is remarkable, yet not at all surprising for someone who takes every opportunity to remind you that he is always Robin, and never Batman (on this team, that is). It’s a thing of beauty to see a player so willing to take a backseat to his teammates, but so capable of taking over as soon as the team needs it. Butler barely ever shot the ball, yet every bucket seemed to be a big one, that either poured fuel on the flame of a Warriors run, or halted a Grizzlies surge.
The turnovers are the one stain, and an extremely uncharacteristic one, at that. It’s just not something you’ll see often from Jimmy, and he looked very annoyed at himself for letting it happen in this one. Not his best defensive effort either, though not a bad performance there.
Even in his games where he’s not at his greatest, he shows us just how important he is.
Grade: B+
Jonathan Kuminga
32 minutes, 25 points, 10 rebounds, 4 assists, 1 block, 3 turnovers, 2 fouls, 9-for-14 shooting, 0-for-2 threes, 7-for-8 free throws, 71.3% TS, +15
My second-favorite part of this game occurred late in the fourth quarter. The Warriors were leading by a healthy margin, but there was still a decent amount of time left on the clock. It’s the thorny middle zone for a coach, where you want to make sure you leave your stars in long enough to secure the win, but also want to get them resting as soon as possible. The Grizzlies — who don’t play tomorrow — still had their starters in as they chased the win.
Steve Kerr found the compromise. With the second game of a back-to-back on the slate for Tuesday, Kerr pulled his older starters and got them a few extra minutes of rest. But he kept Kuminga in. And whether it was said aloud or merely implied, the plays that were called — and the way Kuminga attacked — suggested that message was for Kuminga to steer the ship home.
The offense ran through Kuminga, who relentlessly attacked Memphis’ defense and made the Grizzlies look like the token amateurs at the summer pickup games where NBA players produce their offseason hype content. And just a few minutes later Tuomas Iisalo waved the white flag and pulled his starters.
We only got to that point because Kuminga was a bonafide star in this game. It was just the latest step in what has, through four games, been an absolute breakout campaign. You want to know how much Kuminga has grown? Kerr, who used to spell it out very clearly that Kuminga was a power forward and would need to play like a power forward to get minutes, had JK open the game defending star point guard Ja Morant.
He is still a power forward, though, and that was also on display. He absolutely dominated the glass, and was clearly — both statistically and by the eye test — the best rebounder in the game (despite Memphis starting both a 6’11 center and a Defensive Player of the Year four). He’s really attacking missed shots like Patrick Willis at a running back. He was remarkably crafty at drawing fouls, and showed off tremendous rapport with Butler, Draymond Green, and Steph Curry. There were a few plays in the first quarter, after he had made some highlights, where he tried to do a little too much, but he quickly reined himself back in.
Just a star performance from someone who sure is starting to look like that might be what he is: a star. And if so, I’ll soon have to re-calibrate my expectations, and thus my grading rubric for him. Until then, it’s a top grade.
Grade: A+
Post-game bonus: Led the team in points and rebounds.
Draymond Green
28 minutes, 7 points, 4 rebounds, 10 assists, 1 steal, 4 turnovers, 6 fouls, 2-for-6 shooting, 2-for-5 threes, 1-for-2 free throws, 50.9% TS, +18
There’s a lot of talk about how Butler opens up the game for Curry, but nights like this are a reminder as to how Green’s game transforms when he has more help. You can see the way he calculates things on the court when he doesn’t have to carry the team, and has a little margin for error. He was doing all the little things early, and setting his teammates up so brilliantly. He finished the first quarter with six assists, but it truly was the little things that stood out: the directing teammates, the screens, the tipping rebounds, etc.
He’s still a little out of rhythm, as evidenced by the sky-high turnover and foul totals. He’s up to 14 turnovers and 17 fouls through four games, despite not playing heavy minute totals. That should round into form in time; it’s just nice seeing him do all those Draymond things. So much so that he gets a better-than-average grade despite fouling out in 28 minutes with a high turnover count.
Grade: B+
Post-game bonus: Led the team in assists, best plus/minus on the team.
Brandin Podziemski
32 minutes, 23 points, 4 rebounds, 6 assists, 1 steal, 3 fouls, 8-for-14 shooting, 5-for-7 threes, 2-for-4 free throws, 73.0% TS, +17
It only took Podziemski a few minutes in this game to cement that he was having his best game of the year, by far. He made a three just 11 seconds into the game, and then he was off and running. This was the Podz we all know and love: he scored with equal parts creativity, finesse, and sheer will, kept the offense humming no matter who was on the floor with, made tough plays on defense, and did a remarkable job taking care of the ball (no turnovers in 32 minutes, against Memphis, in a high-paced game, is nothing short of remarkable).
Podz was clutch, with critical baskets all throughout the game, including a near-buzzer-beater to end the third and stop the semblance of momentum that the Grizzlies had been building. The Dubs don’t need Podz to play this well, but … yeesh, they’ll be a damn good team if he does.
Grade: A+
Steph Curry
30 minutes, 16 points, 4 rebounds, 3 assists, 1 turnover, 2 fouls, 5-for-11 shooting, 4-for-9 threes, 2-for-2 free throws, 67.3% TS, +17
The hope is certainly that these nights will help Curry be more fresh come April; or perhaps just come Tuesday. Steph playing fewer than 30 minutes, taking only 11 shots, and finishing just fifth on the team in scoring may not be what people mortgage their home to go watch, but it sure is good for the Dubs.
Obviously the 50-pieces are more fun, but I always love watching these types of games from Curry, because it shows just how in control he is. He just looked like he was playing a different game than his opponent. He was quietly and calmly in control, dictating the offense and his teammate’s actions, and then every now and then he’d remind you that he’s in charge and make a big shot. A master of his craft.
Grade: B
Gary Payton II
10 minutes, 4 points, 1 assist, 2-for-3 shooting, 0-for-1 threes, 66.7% TS, +6
A quality Payton performance. He’s a bit of an up-and-down player, as is expected for someone who plays somewhat sporadically, but this year he’d been more down than up through three games. But this was the GPII we all know and love. He was the epitome of a defensive playmaker, who created chaos with quick hands and overwhelming hustle.
Grade: B+
Quinten Post
13 minutes, 2 points, 4 rebounds, 2 assists, 2 blocks, 2 fouls, 1-for-4 shooting, 0-for-3 threes, 25.0% TS, -4
Post is going to get some very important minutes in these games where Al Horford isn’t available. And for the most part, he handled them quite well in this contest. His jump shot wasn’t falling, but everything else was working well. I was quite impressed with his defense in this game, and he did a beautiful job keeping the offense flowing. He was called into early action in the second half when Green got into foul trouble, and he didn’t miss a beat.
Grade: B+
Moses Moody
22 minutes, 20 points, 2 rebounds, 1 assist, 1 steal, 2 blocks, 2 turnovers, 2 fouls, 6-for-10 shooting, 5-for-7 threes, 3-for-3 free throws, 88.3% TS, -3
He’s baaaaaaaaaack! Moody made his season debut on Friday and looked like he was trying to play catch-up to get up to speed. And in this game? Up to speed. Fully up to speed.
Moody looked fantastic on both ends of the court, and was completely in rhythm in every area of the game. He couldn’t miss for the first three quarters, and crucially caught absolute fire in the third quarter, when the Warriors turned a lead into a near blowout. His stat line looks great, but doesn’t capture just how well he played.
Grade: A+
Buddy Hield
18 minutes, 5 points, 2 rebounds, 2 assists, 1 steal, 3 fouls, 2-for-7 shooting, 0-for-5 threes, 1-for-1 free throws, 33.6% TS, +1
Hield was cold in this one, and he was trying to do way too much early. He did turn it around a bit though, by making some crucial adjustments and driving to the hoop when he couldn’t get his jump shot to fall. That’s very commendable, though forcing your shot early on when it’s not falling isn’t a good look.
Grade: C
Trayce Jackson-Davis
7 minutes, 2 points, 1 rebound, 1 assist, 1 steal, 1 foul, 0-for-1 shooting, 2-for-2 free throws, 53.2% TS, -6
For now, it looks like the plan is for Jackson-Davis to play 5-10 minutes when Horford sits, and be a benchwarmer when he doesn’t. As such, it’s probably going to take him a while to find some rhythm this season, especially after not playing much down the stretch last year.
Some good and some bad in this one. He was aggressive, set some nice screens, had some quality defensive possessions, and made a really nice pass. He also looked out of sorts quite a bit, and was often a second late and a step slow. That’s understandable for a young player who isn’t getting a lot of minutes.
Grade: C
Post-game bonus: Worst plus/minus on the team
Will Richard
9 minutes, 4 points, 2 rebounds, 1 assist, 1 steal, 1 turnover, 2 fouls, 2-for-3 shooting, 0-for-1 threes, 66.7% TS, +1
The kid just knows how to play winning basketball. There’s just no other way to put it. Credit to Mike Dunleavy Jr. for spotting it, and even more credit to Richard for possessing it. He picked Morant’s pocket while guarding him straight up, which was a delight. He made winning plays on offense, defense, and on the glass. The playing time will wax and wane, but my goodness. He’s going to help this team win games, there’s no doubt about it.
Grade: A-
Gui Santos
6 minutes, 3 points, 1 rebound, 1 steal, 1 foul, 1-for-1 shooting, 1-for-1 threes, 150.0% TS, -2
You can’t say enough about the performance that Santos had despite only playing 6:20. He’s not really in the rotation at the moment, but came in during the second quarter when the team needed an infusion of energy. Despite being cold off the bench, he drained a three on the first play. Like seemingly all his teammates, he made winning plays, including a tremendous moment where he spoiled what appeared to be a Memphis two-on-one by hustling his way into the play and making a theft from behind. What a luxury to have an energetic spark plug that you can trust to make the right play.
Grade: A
Pat Spencer
1 minute, 0 points, 0-for-1 shooting, 0.0% TS, -4
If you’ve labored through these 2,000 words with me, then you might have noticed that early on in the article, I mentioned something being my second favorite moment of the game. My favorite? With just over a minute remaining, Kerr sent Pat Spencer to the scorer’s table. Iisalo immediately turned and sent Cam Spencer to the scorer’s table. Kerr then called a timeout so that the two brothers could get on the court together for a few possessions — not for the first time, and likely not for the last, either.
The Warriors had the ball, up 13, with the shot clock turned off. Standard protocol says you dribble out the clock. Instead, Pat backed down his younger brother and fired off a turnaround jumper, which he missed. Everyone on both sides smiled as Bob Fitzgerald reminded us all that it is, after all, just a game.
Grade: A+ for the feels
Monday’s inactives: Al Horford, De’Anthony Melton, Jackson Rowe, Alex Toohey
