Yikes. That’s really my only reaction after the Golden State Warriors dropped a home game against the Julius Randle and OG Anunoby-less New York Knicks, losing 119-112 in a game that they really, really wish they would have won.
It was just a bad performance. They happen. You shake them off. In theory.
The Warriors have been having a lot of them. Which means they haven’t been shaking them off.
Still and all, I have a job to do, though I’ll try to do it quickly. This isn’t a game worth dwelling on. 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 Monday’s games, league-average TS was 58.1%.
Draymond Green
31 minutes, 2 points, 8 rebounds, 5 assists, 1 steal, 4 turnovers, 2 fouls, 1-for-7 shooting, 0-for-2 threes, 14.3% TS, -7
Pretty rough start to the game for Dray, as he got beat up a bit inside by Isaiah Hartenstein. Then again, it’s hard to blame Green too much for that, since he’s playing out of position to facilitate the best lineup (or what the Dubs have hoped is the best lineup, at least).
Either way, Dray never really had it this game. He wasn’t his usual excellent self on defense, he struggled on offense, and he had a lot of turnovers.
Grade: D+
Jonathan Kuminga
26 minutes, 16 points, 1 rebound, 1 assist, 1 steal, 2 turnovers, 2 fouls, 7-for-13 shooting, 0-for-2 threes, 2-for-2 free throws, 57.6% TS, -11
A bit of an odd game for Kuminga. There were times where he was some of the only offense the Dubs could muster, but he never really got into a flow on that end of the court … and really didn’t do much on the other end, or rebounding the ball.
Grade: C
Andrew Wiggins
24 minutes, 7 points, 8 rebounds, 1 steal, 1 turnover, 1 foul, 2-for-9 shooting, 1-for-3 threes, 2-for-4 free throws, 32.5% TS, -10
Wiggins had a phenomenal game rebounding the basketball. Unfortunately, he had an atrocious game doing everything else on the court.
Grade: C
Steph Curry
33 minutes, 27 points, 5 rebounds, 5 assists, 2 turnovers, 1 foul, 8-for-20 shooting, 4-for-13 threes, 7-for-7 free throws, 58.5% TS, -9
Not an awful game statistically for Steph, but it really felt like he just never impacted the game. The Dubs were trailing by double digits before he scored, and it wasn’t until past the halfway mark in the second quarter that he made a shot from the field.
Oftentimes Curry has a statistically-poor game, but you can tell from watching him that he’s a great player. This almost felt like the opposite: it was a statistically-solid game, but if you were watching him for the first time you might not have realized that he’s a star.
So I’m not really sure how to grade him. Everything looks fine enough on paper, but it sure felt like he just didn’t put his mark on the game at all.
Grade: C+
Post-game bonus: Led the team in points.
Brandin Podziemski
25 minutes, 0 points, 2 rebounds, 2 assists, 1 block, 1 turnover, 3 fouls, 0-for-2 shooting, 0-for-1 threes, 0.0% TS, -15
Podziemski has been hitting a little bit of a rookie wall lately, and this was perhaps the hardest that he has accelerated into said wall. He’s a tremendous player for a rookie, and still has tremendous smarts and restraint (how many other rookies can struggle through a 25-minute night and still only take two shots with one turnover?). The future is oh-so-bright for young Podz.
But whether it’s the length of the NBA season or the league adjusting to him, he just hasn’t been a very effective player lately, and this was an awful game by the (admittedly very high) standards that he’s set.
He’ll bounce back. I have no doubt about that.
Grade: D
Post-game bonus: Worst plus/minus on the team.
Trayce Jackson-Davis
26 minutes, 19 points, 9 rebounds, 2 assists, 3 blocks, 2 fouls, 9-for-9 shooting, 1-for-2 free throws, 96.2% TS, +6
It’s a bummer the Warriors lost, because it kept TJD from getting the press he deserved for one hell of a game. 19 points and nine rebounds, in just 26 minutes? With three blocks to just two fouls? Without missing a shot???
There were a lot of reasons the Dubs lost. Jackson-Davis was not one of those reasons. He was not even adjacent to any of those reasons.
Grade: A+
Post-game bonus: Led the team in rebounds.
Chris Paul
20 minutes, 14 points, 4 rebounds, 4 assists, 1 steal, 1 turnover, 3 fouls, 6-for-9 shooting, 2-for-2 threes, 77.8% TS, -2
CP3 had a tremendous sense of the moment in this game. It seemed all his shots were taken — and made — when the Warriors desperately needed one. He stopped runs with shots. He saved broken possessions and beat the clock with shots. He took shots right as you were pulling your hair and saying, “they really need to score here,” and then the shots went in.
The bench was fantastic in this game. That’s why Paul is here. Unfortunately, the starters didn’t hold up their end of the bargain.
Grade: A
Klay Thompson
31 minutes, 18 points, 2 rebounds, 8 assists, 2 steals, 1 block, 6-for-15 shooting, 5-for-10 threes, 1-for-1 free throws, 58.3% TS, +11
This showed such a fun evolution of Klay’s game. It’s no secret that the 2023-24 season has been something of a struggle for the future Hall of Famer, but in adjusting to — and accepting — a bench role, Thompson has also learned just how many ways he can impact a game. No longer being able to really on his scoring to be all-world on any given night, he’s figuring out other areas of the game in which he can excel.
Klay was one of the best Warriors on the court on Monday, and shooting was perhaps the thing he did the worst. How many times in his career can we say that? And how many times has he led his team in assists?
Watching Thompson develop rapport with Jackson-Davis has been one of the bright spots of a rather arduous season. Five of Klay’s eight assists went to TJD, and they were a combination of brilliant chemistry, pinpoint accuracy, and a level of vision that many didn’t know Thompson possessed.
He also clocked 31 minutes without a single foul or turnover. Klay has been so much better since moving to the bench, though it’s fair to wonder if he’ll be moved back into the starting five soon.
Grade: A
Post-game bonus: Led the team in assists, best plus/minus on the team.
Gary Payton II
17 minutes, 6 points, 1 assist, 2 turnovers, 2 fouls, 2-for-2 shooting, 1-for-1 threes, 1-for-2 free throws, 104.2% TS, +5
A quality GPII game. There weren’t very many Warriors who came to Chase Center with the intention of playing defense on Monday, but Payton certainly was one of them, even if he was at times a bit out of control … including when he racked up a very costly flagrant foul while closing out on a Jalen Brunson three.
Grade: B
Moses Moody
8 minutes, 3 points, 1 assist, 1 steal, 1-for-2 shooting, 1-for-2 threes, 75.0% TS, -3
The Warriors have trimmed their rotation to either nine or 10 players, depending on whether Steve Kerr wants to play Moody or not in any given matchup. And yet … part of me thinks Moody might be the person who slides into the opening five if Kerr decides to tinker with a currently-broken starting lineup.
I’m for it.
Grade: B+
Monday’s DNP-CDs: Kevon Looney, Lester Quiñones, Gui Santos, Dario Šarić
Monday’s inactives: Usman Garuba, Jerome Robinson, Pat Spencer