In front of A A record crowd at the Alamodome Friday night, the Golden State Warriors Theirs was Best road game of the seasonbeating San Antonio Spurs 144-113.
It was a lot of fun and most of the players deserve credit for their performance. So let’s do that by ranking the shows. As always, we rank each player based on expectations, with a “B” grade representing that player’s average performance.
Note: True-shooting percentage (TS) is a measure of scoring efficiency that accounts for threes and free throws. Entering Friday’s games, the league average was 57.7%.
Draymond Green
29 minutes, 6 points, 12 rebounds, 4 assists, 3 steals, 1 block, 2 turnovers, 3 fouls, 3-for-5 shooting, 0-for-1 threes, 60.0% TS, +20
A clinic from Draymond. It felt like every shot the Spurs took was contested by Dre and rebounded by Dre, resulting in a Dre-led fast break.
In my view, Green is the most important player on the team for this five-game road trip. They will be warriors Third in the league in defense at home and 29th on the road. If they want to reverse their road woes — their fourth win in 20 road games — it starts on defense. As long as Dre is a warrior, their defense starts with him.
Grade: A
Post-match bonus: Equals team lead in plus/minus.
Kevon Looney
21 minutes, 14 points, 10 rebounds, 3 assists, 2 turnovers, 3 fouls, 6-of-7 shooting, 2-of-3 free throws, 84.1% TS, +6
Looney has seen his minutes drop slightly since the return of Andre Iguodala, with Jamichel Green and James Wiseman sidelined. Steve Kerr seems more comfortable going small ball when Iguodala is around.
But Looney has been fantastic in the minutes he’s been given. As the Warriors went smaller, they thrived. When they went big, Looney scored efficiently, hauled in rebounds, and played strong defense (Jakob Baldl shot 2-for-9). That he had the team’s worst plus/minus isn’t an indictment of him, just an indication of which lineups performed better against San Antonio.
Grade: A
Post-match bonus: Worst plus/minus on the team.
Andrew Wiggins
27 minutes, 16 points, 5 rebounds, 2 assists, 1 steal, 2 blocks, 1 turnover, 3 fouls, 7-of-17 shooting, 2-of-8 threes, 47.1% TS, +18
Wiggins struggled a bit with performance, but I thought this was his best game since returning to the lineup. The scoring may have been a bit lackluster, but he was aggressive in every facet of the game and played some fine defense.
Grade: B+
Step curry
23 minutes, 15 points, 4 rebounds, 3 assists, 1 block, 3 fouls, 6-of-12 shooting, 2-of-7 threes, 1-of-1 free throws, 60.3% TS, +12
Curry putting up 15 points in just 23 minutes better than the league average is kind of hilarious, and our first thought is “he’s still rusty.”
But how good is he? Despite the donut in the turnover column, the trio of assists doesn’t accurately portray how well he ran the offense.
Watch out folks. He’s getting hot again.
Grade: B
Clay Thompson
23 minutes, 16 points, 3 rebounds, 4 assists, 1 turnover, 3 fouls, 7-of-10 shooting, 2-of-3 threes, 80.0% TS, +19
Clay had a very important performance in this game. Outside of the first two minutes, it wasn’t until the start of the second half that the Warriors felt in control of the game. The Dubs had a few turnovers in the opening minute (one conceded by Thompson), and the Spurs made some shots. It felt like going into the San Antonio game.
Then Clay turned it on and put a quick end to any hopes and dreams San Antonio had.
One of the best performances of the year. He’s really finding his rhythm.
Grade: A+
Andre Iguodala
18 minutes, 5 points, 4 rebounds, 1 assist, 1 steal, 1 block, 2 turnovers, 1 foul, 2-for-3 shooting, 1-for-2 three, 83.3% TS, +16
Iguodala’s third game of the season was undoubtedly his best. Showed he still has some athleticism and he can still play defense. More importantly, he showed that a small-ball lineup with him can still thrive. And, as in his first two games, he proved to those who thought he was a glorified assistant coach that he could play real minutes.
Grade: A-
Anthony Lamb
24 minutes, 13 points, 5 rebounds, 2 assists, 1 block, 1 turnover, 4 fouls, 5-of-7 shooting, 3-of-4 threes, 92.9% TS, +18
I was really surprised that Lamb “only” took three shots from downtown, because I felt like he had at least five shots. He made a huge difference in the first half as the Warriors turned a small lead into a blowout.
The mistakes weren’t the best, sometimes a sign of a lack of position, but everything else about his game was absolutely fantastic.
Grade: A
Donte DiVincenzo
25 minutes, 22 points, 7 rebounds, 5 assists, 2 steals, 1 turnover, 2 fouls, 7-of-17 shooting, 4-of-12 threes, 4-of-4 free throws, 58.4% TS, +20
Anyone still skeptical of DiVincenzo’s offseason addition? No?
Did not think like that.
It was fitting that DTV revealed it at the Alamodome, the same venue where he delivered an incredible performance as the lead. Villanova to an NCAA Championship. He did everything in this game. seriously, Everything.
Grade: A
Post-match bonus: Equals best plus/minus on team.
Jordan Poole
31 minutes, 25 points, 3 rebounds, 6 assists, 1 steal, 2 turnovers, 4 fouls, 8-of-16 shooting, 2-of-6 threes, 7-of-8 free throws, 64.0% TS, +19
Which team did Vincenzo face in the national championship game at the Alamodome? Poole’s Michigan team. So it was fitting that they were the two leading scorers in this game. Some things make sense.
This tournament is everything you think of when you imagine a beautiful pool performance. It was equal parts flashy and substantial. He is very funny.
JP was very talented, while carrying the show with a wonderful inside-out game. When security cut off his legs, he drove. When they cut off the path, he retreated. When they took his shot, he found an open man.
Brilliant.
Grade: A+
Post-match bonus: Led the team in points and assists.
Moses Moody
18 minutes, 12 points, 2 rebounds, 3 assists, 1 steal, 4-of-7 shooting, 2-of-5 threes, 2-of-4 free throws, 68.5% TS, +7
I thought it was one of the best games of Moody’s career, full stop.
As I often point out, the lid doesn’t make good and bad. He didn’t make many mistakes, but he didn’t make many plays. In this game he replaced the latter … with the former. He was aggressive on offense, not only settling for the three, but also penetrating, drawing contact, finishing and finding open teammates. And he did it all without committing a turnover or foul.
More of this, please!
Grade: A
Friday Inactive: Patrick Baldwin Jr., JaMichael Green, Ty Jerome, Jonathan Cuminga, Ryan Rollins, James Wiseman
