Player grades: Warriors vs. Grizzlies

Assessing every Golden State player’s performance in the team’s 137-116 win over Memphis.

The Golden State Warriors washed off an ugly Monday night loss by dominating the Memphis Grizzlies at home on Wednesday night, winning 137-116 in a nationally-televised contest. It was a pretty close game for a while, but the Dubs used a 22-0 run spanning the end of the second quarter and the beginning of the third to build a massive lead that they never even considered squandering.

It was a delight! Now let’s grade the players who did it. 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. Entering Wednesday’s games, league-average TS was 58.1%.

Draymond Green

24 minutes, 10 points, 12 rebounds, 7 assists, 1 steal, 1 block, 1 turnover, 1 foul, 5-for-10 shooting, 0-for-3 threes, 50.0% TS, +25

I definitely don’t want to imply that Green has been a large reason for the Warriors struggles this season. But I will say that when he plays like this, he can be the second or third-best player on a really, really, really good Warriors team.

Aggressive offense, brilliant passing, screening, and quarterbacking, outstanding rebounds, and elite defense ... it’s a helluva package.

Grade: A
Post-game bonus: Led the team in rebounds, highest plus/minus on the team.

Jonathan Kuminga

28 minutes, 26 points, 5 rebounds, 4 assists, 2 steals, 3 fouls, 12-for-17 shooting, 2-for-3 threes, 76.5% TS, +21

Yeesh. Yeesh. Yeesh.

Memphis was completely helpless against Kuminga. When he got the ball in transition, or beat his man off the dribble, it was like vintage Frank Gore after busting through the first line. I’m not sure there’s a better adjective to describe the way Kuminga played offense on Wednesday than violently.

He also made good passes and didn’t turn the ball over, even if there were some defensive lapses. Steve Kerr said it might have been JK’s best game ever and that gets a great grade.

Grade: A+
Post-game bonus: Led the team in points.

Andrew Wiggins

29 minutes, 22 points, 10 rebounds, 3 assists, 1 block, 9-for-14 shooting, 4-for-6 threes, 78.6% TS, +22

A game after Steve Kerr said he wanted Wiggins to be more aggressive, the 2022 All-Star delivered in a big way. His offense was perhaps less aggressive and more oportunistic, as he did a great job moving to the right spots, getting open, and making shots. But he certainly was aggressive in crashing the glass, as he tied DeJon Jarreau for the second-most rebounds in the game, behind only Green.

There’s been a pretty strong correlation between how well Wiggins plays and how well the Warriors play, though you could argue the chicken-or-the-eggness of it until the cows come home, to mix my barnyard metaphors. Either way, this was one of Wiggins’ best games of the season, and it was a joy to watch.

Grade: A

Steph Curry

24 minutes, 14 points, 2 rebounds, 3 assists, 1 block, 2 turnovers, 1 foul, 5-for-9 shooting, 4-for-7 threes, 77.8% TS, +17

It’s not very often that you see Curry finish fifth on the team in shots taken ... the chef accounted for just 9% of the team’s attempts. But the Warriors didn’t need Curry to be a superstar in this game, and he was more than happy to let his gravity open up the court for all his teammates ... and feed them the ball.

If the Dubs are to make a run this year, it will be because the role players step up. And if the role players step up, it will be in part because of what Curry did to help get them there.

Grade: B

Brandin Podziemski

23 minutes, 2 points, 5 rebounds, 4 assists, 2 steals, 1 turnover, 1-for-6 shooting, 0-for-2 threes, 16.7% TS, +1

Points have been really hard for Podziemski to come by lately, though I give him props for not just mindlessly chucking, like so many players (particularly youngsters) would do. He’s scored just seven points over his last three games, though he’s only taken 12 shots. He’s definitely in something of a slump right now, though he’s still doing a lot of good things on defense, rebounding, and playmaking. Still and all, it wouldn’t be surprising if he’s moved out of the starting lineup again at some point.

Grade: C

Dario Šarić

5 minutes, 0 points, 1 rebound, -4

Nice to see Super Dario get into the game for a few minutes, albeit just in garbage time. He’s out of the rotation for now, but that doesn’t mean he won’t have a role to play again at some point this season.

Grade: Incomplete
Post-game bonus: Tied for the worst plus/minus on the team.

Kevon Looney

6 minutes, 2 points, 1 rebound, 1 assist, 1 turnover, 3 fouls, 1-for-2 shooting, 50.0% TS, -4

Did you read that segment above, about Šarić? It all applied to Looney, too.

Grade: Incomplete
Post-game bonus: Tied for the worst plus/minus on the team.

Trayce Jackson-Davis

26 minutes, 13 points, 5 rebounds, 2 assists, 2 blocks, 3 fouls, 6-for-8 shooting, 1-for-4 free throws, 66.6% TS, +5

The more Jackson-Davis develops chemistry with the veterans, the harder it gets to keep him off the floor. He and Klay Thompson have been flexing their collective muscles in the pick-and-roll for a while now, and now we’re really seeing it develop with Chris Paul and Green, as well. TJD’s minutes are rising because he’s simply providing a new element on the court ... and barely making any mistakes.

Grade: A

Gui Santos

4 minutes, 0 points, 1 foul, 0-for-1 shooting, 0-for-1 threes, 0.0% TS, +1

Always love to see Gui on the court, even when it’s just garbage time.

Grade: Incomplete

Chris Paul

24 minutes, 12 points, 4 rebounds, 14 assists, 2 fouls, 5-for-8 shooting, 2-for-3 threes, 75.0% TS, +3

These games are sharp reminders as to why the Dubs were so thrilled to get Paul in June. He’s just the perfect person to lead the bench squad, and when the starters are actually playing well, you’re quickly reminded as to how CP3 can transform a good team into a great team.

This was just the 12th time this season that an NBA player has had at least 14 assists without a turnover (the list is pretty funny: Tyrese Haliburton five times, Nikola Jokić twice, and once each by Paul, Fred VanVleet, Tyus Jones, Grayson Allen [???], and ... Podziemski).

Grade: A+
Post-game bonus: Led the team in assists.

Klay Thompson

25 minutes, 23 points, 2 assists, 1 steal, 9-for-18 shooting, 5-for-11 threes, 63.9% TS, +13

Lately I’ve been talking a lot about Klay showing he can do more than just shoot. He’s had a lot of games where he doesn’t shoot well, but still plays well because of everything else he did. This game temporarily flipped the script back: Thompson shot often and brilliantly, and did very little else. That works!

Grade: A-

Gary Payton II

11 minutes, 4 points, 1 rebound, 1 assist, 1 turnover, 3 fouls, 2-for-2 shooting, 100.0% TS, -3

Not GPII’s most dynamic performance, but nothing to dislike, either.

Grade: B-

Moses Moody

4 minutes, 3 points, 1-for-2 shooting, 1-for-1 threes, 75.0% TS, +3

Moody was questionable to play in this game due to left knee soreness. He played a four-minute stint in the second quarter, then didn’t play again, even when the bench emptied out. Hopefully he didn’t tweak it.

Grade: B

Lester Quiñones

4 minutes, 4 points, 2 rebounds, 1 assist, 1-for-2 shooting, 1-for-2 threes, 1-for-2 free throws, 69.4% TS, +1

Q isn’t playing much these days, but it sure seems like he’s staying ready.

Grade: Incomplete

Pat Spencer

3 minutes, 2 points, 1 assist, 1-for-1 shooting, 100.0% TS, +4

One of the highlights of this game came when Spencer took the court in garbage time. He got a one-on-zero breakaway and rose up for a dunk ... his first career NBA points!

Congrats on something you’ll never forget, Pat.

Grade: A+

Wednesday’s inactives: Usman Garuba, Jerome Robinson