The Golden State Warriors entertained you on Friday night, but they ultimately disappointed you. Despite the return of Steph Curry — and despite Anthony Edwards not playing (though neither did Draymond
Green) — the Warriors fell to the Minnesota Timberwolves 127-120.
Golden State executed fairly well on offense, but couldn’t buy a bucket, despite plenty of wide-open looks. Defensively, they sorely missed Green’s presence. So let’s grade the players in the loss, then move on with the weekend. 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. Entering Friday’s games, league-average TS was 58.3%.
Buddy Hield
19 minutes, 6 points, 2 rebounds, 2 assists, 2 turnovers, 1 foul, 2-for-4 shooting, 2-for-4 threes, 75.0% TS, +3
One Hield play really stood out in this game, when a miscommunication between two of his teammates resulted in a ball lazily being thrown out of bounds at halfcourt, but Hield came running all the way up from the corner to save the turnover from occurring. His energy and effort level were greatly needed in this game, and he drained a few threes. Otherwise, not too much going on.
Grade: B-
Jimmy Butler III
37 minutes, 15 points, 8 rebounds, 5 assists, 1 steal, 1 turnover, 2 fouls, 6-for-11 shooting, 0-for-2 threes, 3-for-4 free throws, 58.8% TS, -5
Not an altogether bad game from Butler, but he doesn’t look fully healthy. He’s been dealing with multiple ailments this season, and it feels like they’ve caught up to him. He played decently, but just couldn’t really control the game or inflict his will on the Wolves. Not his best defensive work, either.
Grade: B-
Post-game bonus: Led the team in rebounds, tied for the team lead in assists.
Quinten Post
33 minutes, 16 points, 6 rebounds, 3 assists, 1 turnover, 3 fouls, 5-for-15 shooting, 4-for-11 threes, 2-for-2 free throws, 50.4% TS, -5
With Green and Al Horford sidelined, Post got true starter’s minutes, which was fun to see. He’s definitely earned them with how well he’s played in recent weeks.
That said, that play didn’t really carry over to this game. He couldn’t get anything going inside the arc, and didn’t shoot well enough from beyond it to make up for that. He’s been an absolute rockstar on defense lately, but wasn’t at his best in this game, and got worked on the glass a little bit.
Grade: C
Pat Spencer
28 minutes, 12 points, 5 rebounds, 4 assists, 2 steals, 2 turnovers, 2 fouls, 5-for-13 shooting, 2-for-6 threes, 46.2% TS, -15
It was fun seeing Spencer get some time in the starting lineup with Curry. It admittedly didn’t work all that well, and Spencer had his worst game in a while, but you could see the foundation of something that could work there. He just had a hard time finding a rhythm on offense in this game, and really struggled on defense.
Grade: C
Post-game bonus: Worst plus/minus on the team.
Steph Curry
32 minutes, 39 points, 5 rebounds, 5 assists, 2 turnovers, 3 fouls, 14-for-28 shooting, 6-for-15 threes, 5-for-7 free throws, 62.7% TS, -3
He’s Steph Curry. Of course he’s going to return from injury and drop 39 points. Why wouldn’t he?
The Warriors couldn’t shoot in this game, but Curry kept the offense in it anyway. There were a few moments of rust, but otherwise he was sensational. On a normal day I might give him an “A-,” but accounting for the rust that he should have had, he gets bumped up.
Grade: A
Post-game bonus: Led the team in points, tied for the team lead in assists.
De’Anthony Melton
20 minutes, 9 points, 2 rebounds, 1 assist, 1 steal, 1 turnover, 3 fouls, 2-for-6 shooting, 0-for-2 threes, 5-for-6 free throws, 52.1% TS, +4
It was nice seeing Melton make his return to action last week, but the real joy is seeing him play in games where Curry also suits up. What a luxury to have a player of Melton’s talent and trustworthiness running the show when Curry goes to the bench. This wasn’t his best game — he’s still rounding into shape — but he did so many little things that remind you as to just how good he is.
Grade: B
Post-game bonus: Best plus/minus on the team.
Moses Moody
23 minutes, 11 points, 4 rebounds, 2 assists, 3 steals, 5 fouls, 5-for-10 shooting, 1-for-4 threes, 0-for-1 free throws, 52.7% TS, +1
If I gave out a bonus to the player who played the hardest, Moody would be the recipient in this game. And in many games, if we’re being honest. There was a while in the third quarter where the Warriors looked tired and exhausted, and Moody brought them back to where they needed to be. He just kept his foot on the gas all night long.
It wasn’t always pretty. He nearly fouled out despite playing less than half the game, and his shot wasn’t falling. But it wasn’t for lack of effort, and he was one of the team’s best defensive players.
Grade: B
Trayce Jackson-Davis
15 minutes, 8 points, 7 rebounds, 1 assist, 2 blocks, 1 foul, 3-for-4 shooting, 2-for-2 free throws, 82.0% TS, 0 +/-
A really awesome game for TJD. His minutes are all over the place right now, but with Green and Horford sidelined, he got a good amount of run against Rudy Gobert, Naz Reid, and Julius Randle, and he certainly made the most of it. I was extremely impressed by his defense, and how effective he was on the glass. Great performance.
Grade: A
Brandin Podziemski
23 minutes, 2 points, 2 rebounds, 4 assists, 2 turnovers, 2 fouls, 1-for-4 shooting, 0-for-2 threes, 25.0% TS, -11
Not a good game for Podz. He had a few nice passes, but that was pretty much it. Hopefully he can bounce back on Sunday.
Grade: D+
Gary Payton II
4 minutes, 0 points, 1 turnover, -2
Payton is in this funny area where he’s not entirely removed from the rotation, but isn’t playing enough to have it really mean anything.
Grade: Incomplete
Gui Santos
6 minutes, 2 points, 1 rebound, 1 turnover, 1 foul, 1-for-1 shooting, 100.0% TS, -2
Not much to analyze from Santos, for better and for worse. He shows up, has high energy, makes some cool plays, and makes a few over-eager ones. He’s the labrador of NBA players and I mean that mostly as a compliment.
Grade: B-
Friday’s DNP-CDs: Seth Curry, Jonathan Kuminga, Will Richard
Friday’s inactives: LJ Cryer, Draymond Green, Al Horford, Malevy Leons
