Player grades: Warriors vs. Thunder

Feb 7, 2023 - 6:18 AM

No Steph Curry, no problem. In their first game since their superstar went down with an injury, the Golden State Warriors had one of their finest performances of the season, putting it all together on both ends of the court en route to a 141-114 win over the pesky Oklahoma City Thunder. And if you love Klay Thompson, you loved that game.

As always, we’ve got grades to hand out. They’re weighted for my expectations of 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 Monday’s games, league average was 57.9%.

Draymond Green

28 minutes, 7 points, 10 rebounds, 4 assists, 3 steals, 2 blocks, 2 turnovers, 2 fouls, 3-for-4 shooting, 0-for-1 threes, 1-for-2 free throws, 71.7% TS, +8

A super solid game from Dray, who acted as the emotional leader for much of this game. He was getting himself and his teammates pumped up all game long, cheerleading, egging on the crowd, and turning defense into offense.

Excellence.

Grade: B+

Jonathan Kuminga

22 minutes, 7 points, 2 rebounds, 5 assists, 2 turnovers, 3-for-9 shooting, 1-for-3 threes, 38.9% TS, +19

Some good and some bad from JK, who had a quite inefficient offensive game but I thought made good decisions most of the night and just didn’t see shots fall. He really needs to find a way to step up his rebounding, especially if he’s going to be getting minutes a starter in a small ball lineup. But five assists! And excellent defense!

Grade: B-

Andrew Wiggins

32 minutes, 18 points, 3 rebounds, 4 assists, 1 steal, 1 block, 2 turnovers, 3 fouls, 8-for-15 shooting, 1-for-5 threes, 1-for-2 free throws, 56.7% TS, +25

I thought this was Wiggins’ best game since suffering his December injury. He was an absolute beast defensively, and made some big shots on offense. This looked like the Wiggins we know and love.

The lack of rebounding lately is still a little odd, and we’re still waiting for him to have his first game scoring with better than league average efficiency since December 3, but solid offense and great defense is worth rewarding.

Grade: A-

Klay Thompson

33 minutes, 42 points, 3 rebounds, 1 assist, 4 turnovers, 1 foul, 15-for-22 shooting, 12-for-16 threes, 95.5% TS, +10

Did Thompson provide much beyond scoring? No. Does it matter, when you score nearly two points for every shooting possession? Also no.

Absolutely electric performance by Klay, who has been one of the best players in the NBA this calendar year.

Grade: A+

Post-game bonus: Led the team in points.

Jordan Poole

29 minutes, 21 points, 4 rebounds, 12 assists, 4 turnovers, 3 fouls, 8-for-14 shooting, 5-for-10 threes, 75.0% TS, +28

After the game, Steve Kerr said this was one of Poole’s best games. And then Draymond Green one-upped it by saying it was Poole’s best games.

And I am not going to argue with either of them. JP was in complete control. He completely manipulated OKC’s defense with his drives and passes, and lit them up from beyond the arc. And just as impressively? His defense was fantastic!

No one can replace Curry. But if Poole can keep playing like this, he’ll sure soften the blow of Steph’s injury.

Grade: A+

Post-game bonus: Led the team in assists, best plus/minus on the team.

JaMychal Green

12 minutes, 12 points, 3 rebounds, 1 assist, 1 turnover, 1 foul, 5-for-7 shooting, 2-for-3 threes, 0-for-1 free throws, 80.7% TS, +5

Interesting little lineup quirk. Kerr has been playing JMG at the 4 a bit more recently, and he played much of this game paired with Kevon Looney.

Thankfully his three pointer has been on fire lately, which helps ... he’s 13-for-23 in his last nine games. And the energy is still there, in full supply.

Grade: A

Kevon Looney

22 minutes, 4 points, 11 rebounds, 4 assists, 1 steal, 1 turnover, 2 fouls, 2-for-3 shooting, 66.7% TS, +21

The birthday boy started this game from the bench, but still gobbled up a rebound every two minutes, while helping the Warriors outscore the Thunder by nearly a point a minute when he was on the court.

The boost he gives the team with his rebounding, energy, and defense off the bench is exceptional.

Grade: A

Post-game bonus: Led the team in rebounds.

James Wiseman

4 minutes, 6 points, 2 rebounds, 3-for-3 shooting, 100.0% TS, +4

Wiseman sopped up a little bit of garbage time, and it was great to see him on the court. He also showed off some smooth offensive moves.

His problem at this point is that even when he shows off what he is good at, it probably isn’t going to get him much more playing time. Fans can certainly disagree with it, but there are only about five teams in the NBA that will run designed post ups, and the Warriors certainly are not one of them.

It’s fun to see him play well, but he’ll need to play well on defense and in the pick and roll to start seeing meaningful minutes.

Grade: A-

Donte DiVincenzo

27 minutes, 14 minutes, 4 rebounds, 7 assists, 3 fouls, 5-for-10 shooting, 4-for-8 threes, 70.0% TS, +7

Speaking of people who are heating up from distance ... DiVincenzo is up over 40% on the year, and 27-for-51 in his last 10 games.

Earlier in the season he was a defensive and passing weapon. Now he’s a scoring and shooting weapon.

Grade: A

Ty Jerome

18 minutes, 6 points, 3 rebounds, 4 assists, 2-for-6 shooting, 1-for-2 threes, 1-for-2 free throws, 43.6% TS, -1

With Curry out for the foreseeable future, expect to see a bit more of Jerome. I thought he played decently in this game, though he had a habit of sometimes putting his head down and driving instead of looking at options on the perimeter.

Still, four assists and no turnovers from a backup point guard is excellent.

Grade: B

Post-game bonus: Worst plus/minus on the team.

Moses Moody

10 minutes, 4 points, 1 assist, 1 steal, 2 fouls, 2-for-4 shooting, 0-for-2 threes, 50.0% TS, +9

Moody didn’t do much with his limited minutes, but he did have one helluva highlight dunk.

Grade: B

Monday’s inactives: Patrick Baldwin Jr., Steph Curry, Andre Iguodala, Ryan Rollins