The scenario was similar Friday night. The Golden State Warriors fell back by double digits early, once again erasing the deficit with dynamic two-way play. It was not as dramatic as in their victories over Portland Trail Blazers And Los Angeles Clippers But Friday night’s 108-99 win over New Orleans Pelicans It was at least reminiscent of us.
Significantly, the Dubs swept a five-game home run without a single game played by Steve Curry or Andrew Wiggins. (Not to mention two absences by Draymond Green). They’re clicking on all cylinders right now (except those for the first quarter), and reinforcements are on the way: Curry is expected to return on Sunday.
Now let’s take stock of the guys who were at work on Friday night. As always, grades are weighted based on my expectations for each player, with a grade of “B” being someone’s average performance.
Note: True Shooting Ratio (TS) is a measure of shooting efficiency that accounts for threes and free throws. Going into the Friday games, the average TS value in the league is 58.0%.
Draymond Green
24 minutes, 4 points, 5 rebounds, 1 assist, 1 block, 4 turnovers, 6 fouls, 2-for-4 shooting, 0-for-1 threes, 50.0% TS, +4
A very challenging game from Green. He only had to sit on the bench for a few minutes after suffering a serious problem, and was limited in the second half as well, before being screwed up in the final minute. He was a big part of the team’s defensive performance in the second half, when they held New Orleans up to just 42 points, but other than that he played really poorly.
The best you can say about his performance, other than second-half defense, is that he avoided making the technical foul that would have resulted in an automatic suspension… despite flirting with him throughout the game.
Grade: D+
Kevon Looney
24 minutes, 10 points, 11 rebounds, 3 assists, 2 turnovers, 3 fouls, 5-for-6, 83.3% TS, +4
Just another day at the office for Lonnie. This kind of performance has become the norm of it. He patrolled the paint, controlled the glass, and showed just how good he could attack with some perfect timing and angles on his rolls to the edge.
Grade: A-
Post-game reward: He led the team in rebounding.
Clay Thompson
34 minutes, 27 points, 1 rebound, 4 assists, 1 steal, 1 turnover, 10-for-17 shooting, 4-for-9 three-pointers, 3-for-4 free throws, 72.0% TS, +4
If Clay is recording this well and this efficiently at the moment, just imagine what it will look like when fellow Splash Brother is integrated back into the lineup.
Not only does he control crime, but he still does So Clutch, with huge triples whenever the Warriors need it. His gameplay was some of the best I’ve ever seen in this game, he didn’t look at all the guys in jeopardy as he played the back end back to back.
What a joy.
Grade: a
Post-game reward: He led the team in points.
Donte Divincenzo
32 minutes, 3 points, 7 rebounds, 6 assists, 1 steal, 2 turnovers, 4 fouls, 1-for-3 shooting, 1-for-3 three-pointers, 50.0% TS, +1
A strong reminder from DiVincenzo that even bouncers don’t need to be registered to affect a game. With the Warriors playing very slowly out of the gates, DiVincenzo delivered a burst of energy as well as his outstanding defense around CJ McCollum. And six assists? Yes. He can do a little bit of everything.
It helps that the only shot he took was in a big moment.
Grade: B+
Jordan Paul
34 minutes, 18 points, 2 rebounds, 7 assists, 1 steal, 1 block, 3 turnovers, 2 fumbles, 3-for-13 shooting, 0-for-5 three-pointers, 12-for-12 free throws, 49.2% TS, +11
We’ve seen Paul have a lot of bad shoot nights this year. What were we you did not Much of what he did on Friday was seen: relentlessly attacking the edge for easy shots on the charity strip, running around the defense like a scrambling quarterback until the play evolved into a teammate.
This was a huge advance for Paul, who hadn’t accepted playing a jump back when he caught a cold.
b grade
Post-game reward: He led the team in assists.
Jonathan Cuminga
32 minutes, 19 points, 7 rebounds, 4 steals, 1 block, 2 turnovers, 3 fouls, 9-for-13 shooting, 1-for-2, 73.1% TS, +13
Would I be a prisoner for a moment if I said this was the best game of Cuenga’s career?
In the past few games, we’ve really seen things start to take a turn for JK. This is what the team envisioned when they drafted it. This is why he chose the lottery. This is why Steve Kerr has said many times – publicly and privately – that if he focuses on the defense and on making the right readings, results will follow.
He has shown his dominance in this game, and has been instrumental in almost every aspect of the game. He seemed like a player who could be a permanent All-Star player, or at least a quality player on a great team.
Grade: A+
Post-game reward: The best plus / minus in the team.
Jamical Green
15 minutes, 14 points, 6 rebounds, 1 assist, 2 blocks, 1 foul, 5-for-7 Shooting, 1-for-2 three, 3-for-4 free throws, 79.9% TS, -1
Green has gotten a foot and a half out of the rotation the past few games, but with his fellow namesake in nasty trouble early in this game, he’s been pressed into action. And he answered the call in a big way. There was energy. There were a lot of rebounds. There were definite dunks. There were some of his best defensive moments since stepping into the Dubs jersey.
He may not be able to impress every night, but there are some nights when he’s an important piece.
Grade: a
Anthony Lamb
17 minutes, 11 points, 1 assist, 1 foul, 4-for-10 Shooting, 3-for-8 triples, 55.0% TS, +5
Lamb’s shooting was better than the numbers would suggest, because he had twice where he took wild shots to save the team at the bell of the shot clock. But other than some well-timed trios, he didn’t make much of an impact on this one.
He only has one match left on his two-way eligibility.
Grade: C+
T Jerome
22 minutes, 2 points, 3 rebounds, 5 assists, 2 turnovers, 2 fouls, 1-for-5 shooting, 0-for-1 triple, 20.0% TS, -3
Jerome’s offense has hit a wall of ice lately. In his last four games, he’s only shot 4-for-18 from the field, and 0-for-7 in triples. He does a lot of other things well, but the defenses definitely don’t pay him close attention.
Grade: C+
Post-game reward: The worst plus / minus in the team.
Musa Modi
6 minutes, 0 points, 1 rebound, 2 turnovers, +7
After being relegated to garbage time in the last two games, Moody has already gotten some running in this contest, starting in the second quarter.
He didn’t really do much, but he didn’t get a lot of chances either.
Grade: c
DNP for Friday: Patrick Baldwin Jr., Lester Quinones
idle on friday: Steve Curry, Andre Iguodala, Gary Payton II, Ryan Rollins, Andrew Wiggins
Read more
“Total coffee junkie. Tv ninja. Unapologetic problem solver. Beer expert.”
