The Golden State Warriors improved to 2-0 on Thursday night with a thrilling game that we’ll remember months from now. The Dubs withstood a 50-piece from Aaron Gordon, a triple-double from Nikola Jokić,
and a double-double from Jamal Murray to beat the Denver Nuggets 137-131 in overtime in the home opener at Chase Center.
It was thrilling, encouraging, meaningful, and downright fun. I thoroughly enjoyed it, and I suspect you all did, too. But now we have to grade the players who got the job done. 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. League-average TS last year was 57.6%.
Jimmy Butler III
39 minutes, 21 points, 5 rebounds, 6 assists, 3 steals, 1 foul, 6-for-15 shooting, 2-for-4 threes, 7-for-8 free throws, 56.7% S, +8
The big story for Butler was that he missed a free throw, which means he’s now trailing Steph Curry and thus losing to Draymond Green in his ill-advised bet.
Jokes aside, it was a quality game for Butler. He took over on offense on Tuesday, but let Curry handle that in this game, and that’s the beauty of the pairing. It can be either guy on either night. Butler really locked in defensively and on the glass when it mattered most. It was a statistically underwhelming game by his sky-high standards, but anyone who watched it saw countless winning plays that he made, including when he stopped the bleeding at the end of the first quarter, by scoring nine straight points for the team.
Grade: B
Jonathan Kuminga
36 minutes, 14 points, 5 rebounds, 3 assists, 1 turnover, 3 fouls, 6-for-11 shooting, 1-for-4 threes, 1-for-3 free throws, 56.8% TS, +8
It wasn’t a very noteworthy game for Kuminga for the first three quarters. If you were paying close attention, you could clearly see him doing so many of the things that made Steve Kerr giddy after Tuesday’s opener — making quick decisions, committing on the glass, not settling for mediocre shots — but he wasn’t making much of an impact offensively, and he did make the mistake of leaving Gordon too open on two many threes, which helped lead to a career night for the Bay Area native.
But we’re judging the whole game, not just the first three quarters, and what Kuminga did in the fourth quarter and overtime was utterly special. Kerr said on Tuesday that Butler has been a tremendous mentor for Kuminga, and it was on full display in this game. You could see Kuminga modeling his game after Butler, with the way he defended; the way he position himself before exploding to the ball on rebounds, while shielding the ball with his body; the way he decisively broke down the defense and then hit the open man.
His defense was sensational down the stretch. On the last play of regulation, when Denver had a chance to win the game, Kuminga smoothly switched onto Gordon off the ball, clung to him closely enough that, despite scoring 50, he never was considered in the play, and then shot like a missile to the rim when the shot went up to ensure that there would be no offensive rebound. In overtime, he combined with Curry for a huge steal (which he converted into a transition bucket), and then blocked a Jokić shot.
Kuminga is doing exactly what the coaching staff has been asking him to do, and not only is it improving his individual game, but it’s making the lineups with he, Butler, and Draymond Green work smoothly. Kuminga was on the court for all the clutch minutes of this game, and it wasn’t for developmental purposes — it was because the team’s best lineups featured him.
If he keeps playing like this, I’ll have to adjust my expectations and change his grading metric. Until then, we reward him for playing better than expected. Amazing passes, too.
Grade: B+
Draymond Green
34 minutes, 13 points, 8 rebounds, 8 assists, 1 block, 1 turnover, 2 fouls, 5-for-8 shooting, 2-for-5 threes, 1-for-2 free throws, 61.9% TS, +11
It really cannot be overstated how impressive it is that — even after all these years — that Kerr feels comfortable starting Green at the five against Jokić, an enormous human who is one of the greatest centers in NBA history. And even though Jokić had a triple-double, it always follows that Dray is a massive reason for any victory the Dubs have against the Nuggets.
Everything was on display for Green in this game. Despite Jokić’s gaudy numbers, Green played him exceptionally well (though he wasn’t the only defender on him, as we’ll get to later. The consensus best player in the NBA only had four free throw attempts in the 53-minute game, and took more shots (23) than he scored points (21). Of his 23 attempts, only 10 game inside the arc … and while the Joker can shoot the three, you definitely want him living on the perimeter.
Green attacked the glass relentlessly, and set up his teammates all night long. The biggest shots of the night didn’t belong to Dray, but they were the result of his elite screens. This was the kind of game where, if you watched carefully, you saw exactly why he’s a critical part of title contender, and bound for the Hall of Fame.
Also: it’s damn impressive that Green, Butler, and Kuminga combined for just two turnovers in nearly 110 minutes of action in a high-paced game. Incredible.
Grade: A
Post-game bonus: Led the team in rebounds and assists.
Brandin Podziemski
34 minutes, 11 points, 3 rebounds, 1 assist, 1 steal, 1 turnover, 3 fouls, 4-for-9 shooting, 2-for-6 threes, 1-for-2 free throws, 55.7% TS, -1
I don’t envy Kerr having to figure out minutes when the team gets healthier, though these things tend to have a way of working themselves out. It’s been so great seeing Kuminga get so much run, but it’s hard to see how the team will incorporate Moses Moody into the fold without it costing JK a large dose of minutes (to make no mention of working De’Anthony Melton and Seth Curry into the plans in a few weeks).
One way that I expect Moody to get minutes without it cutting into Kuminga’s too much is by lessening the load for Podziemski. Kerr admitted that if Moody had been healthy he would have been in the starting lineup on Tuesday, and I reckon that would have been in place of his fellow 2021 classmate. But, going forward, it might come at the expense of Podz instead. The third-year guard had a bit of a rough go of it in this game. He showed off some serious offensive moves to start the second quarter, but otherwise just didn’t do too much on either end of the court.
Grade: C
Steph Curry
37 minutes, 42 points, 6 rebounds, 7 assists, 3 steals, 1 block, 2 turnovers, 1 foul, 14-for-25 shooting, 6-for-12 threes, 8-for-8 free throws, 73.6% TS, +15
Curry had a slow start to this game, but no one remembers or cares. This was a vintage Steph performance: the type that reminds you what he’s still capable of even in his 17th season. He scored the final 13 points of regulation for the Warriors (plus the first three in overtime) which featured an absolutely unreal three to tie the game … when everyone in the arena knew he’d be trying to get a shot off. He got any and everything that he wanted, and over the last eight or so minutes of the game (including overtime), he outscored the Nuggets all by himself.
He also has been off to a stellar start on defense: he has three steals and a block in both games so far. Just a total superstar performance from someone who is, emphatically, still a superstar.
Grade: A+
Post-game bonus: Led the team in points, best plus/minus on the team.
Buddy Hield
23 minutes, 11 points, 2 rebounds, 2 assists, 2 steal, 1 turnover, 1 foul, 5-for-13 shooting, 1-for-7 threes, 42.3% TS, -5
I said after Tuesday’s win — in which Hield was sensational — that he doesn’t always have to be the spark plug. It will come and go as the season progresses. Unfortunately, it appears that he listened to me, because Hield didn’t have it in this game.
There’s a little more pressure for him to bring a spark with Moody and Melton sidelined, and Seth Curry not yet back on the team. But he’s giving a solid enough defensive effort — and making the right reads — that you can live with the nights where the offense isn’t there.
Grade: C
Gary Payton II
12 minutes, 6 points, 6 rebounds, 1 assist, 1 steal, 2 fouls, 3-for-5 shooting, 0-for-1 threes, 60.0% TS, -6
Some very solid minutes from GPII, who was better in this game than in the opener. He had perhaps the play of the first half for the team, when he had an emphatic one-handed put-back jam. I reckon minutes will be harder for him to come by when the team is fully healthy, but he’s still an incredibly valuable player who is a must-have for certain matchups.
Grade: B+
Post-game bonus: Worst plus/minus on the team.
Al Horford
29 minutes, 13 points, 3 rebounds, 2 assists, 1 steal, 1 block, 2 fouls, 2 turnovers, 5-for-8 shooting, 3-for-4 threes, 81.3% TS, +6
If anyone had any doubts whatsoever as to how well Horford would fit on the Warriors, well … I sure hope all of those doubts are gone after tonight’s game. With all due respect to franchise legend Kevon Looney, one of my favorite players ever, Horford showed what has been missing from the center position for the Warriors in recent years.
He finished over opposing bigs when Curry or Green found him rolling to the hoop. He drained triples from beyond the arc. He played standout defense on the greatest basketball player alive. He made the right pass time and time again.
There was never any doubt that he’d fit in, and never any doubt that Kerr would trust him whole-heartedly … which he showed by putting Horford in the closing lineups. Now he’ll get a well deserved day off on Friday.
Grade: A
Will Richard
17 minutes, 6 points, 5 rebounds, 3 assists, 1 steal, 1 foul, 2-for-5 shooting, 1-for-4 threes, 1-for-2 free throws, 51.0% TS, -3
The kid can play. The kid can flat out play. We knew Kerr trusted him, but I still didn’t expect him to get this many minutes, and he’s done so much with them that I fully anticipate he’ll be in the rotation even as the team gets healthier.
He doesn’t look like a rookie out there, and certainly not someone who was a few selections away from going undrafted. He seems to always be in the right spot, and is fearless but composed. He was playing well into the fourth quarter in this game, and made some monster plays, including breaking up an alley-oop.
He’s the real deal, folks.
Grade: A
Quinten Post
4 minutes, 0 points, -3
We didn’t really get to see Post do much of anything in this game, but I suspect he’ll get a much larger role on Friday, with Horford resting on the second end of the back-to-back.
Grade: C
Thursday’s DNP-CDs: Trayce Jackson-Davis, Pat Spencer, Gui Santos
Thursday’s inactives: De’Anthony Melton, Moses Moody, Jackson Rowe, Alex Toohey
