The Golden State Warriors are officially cooking. Sure, it’s just the first round of the playoffs, and yes, better teams await should the Dubs advance. But a second dominant win over the Denver Nuggets, this time 126-106, has it looking like the Warriors are serious contenders to hoist the Larry O’Brien trophy in two months.
It’s a 2-0 lead in the series. So let’s grade the players from the excellent team performance, weighting for our expectations of each.
Note: league-average true-shooting percentage was 56.6% this season.
Draymond Green
30 minutes, 6 points, 3 rebounds, 6 assists, 3 steals, 1 block, 1 turnover, 4 fouls, 2-for-5 shooting, 1-for-3 threes, 1-for-2 free throws, 51.0% TS, +20
If you look at the box score, it wasn’t the most exciting game by Green. But looking at the box score is rarely the way to judge Draymond, and Steve Kerr made that abundantly clear after the game.
Steve Kerr on the Draymond impact: “You don’t look at the stat sheet because it just doesn’t say anything. Draymond dominated that game.”
— Golden State of Mind (@unstoppablebaby) April 19, 2022
That really sums it up perfectly. Green’s fingerprints were all over this game, even if they weren’t all over the stat sheet. He was the primary defensive assignment on Nikola Jokić, who looked frustrated all night long, and ultimately got ejected.
This version of Dray is very close to the 2014-15 and 2015-16 version, and that’s one of the best basketball players on the planet.
Grade: A+
Andrew Wiggins
31 minutes, 13 points, 8 rebounds, 2 assists, 1 block, 1 turnover, 2 fouls, 5-for-9 shooting, 2-for-3 threes, 1-for-3 free throws, 63.0% TS, +24
For the first two games of the playoffs, Wiggins has found his role and played it perfectly. Gone are the isolations and ball-stopping contested long twos. He’s spacing the floor and shooting threes when open. He’s cutting to the rim when he doesn’t have the ball. He’s playing strong defense. And perhaps most importantly, he’s putting full effort into pulling down rebounds.
Steve Kerr praised Andrew Wiggins’ rebounding: “That’s the biggest concern when we play that small unit, is the glass, and I thought Wiggs did a really great job.”
— Golden State of Mind (@unstoppablebaby) April 19, 2022
The new death lineup is playing unstoppable basketball, and that’s in part because of Wiggins’ commitment to doing the little things, and willingness to be the fourth option on offense.
Grade: A-
Post-game bonus: Led the team in rebounds.
Kevon Looney
11 minutes, 0 points, 1 rebound, 1 assist, 2 fouls, 0-for-2 shooting, 0.0% TS, +2
It’s pretty clear that we’re not going to see much of Looney this series. It’s not a knock on him, just a sign that the Dubs have figured out their small ball lineup. They might start with it on Thursday, or they might keep playing Looney for the first few minutes of each half.
Grade: C
Klay Thompson
36 minutes, 21 points, 2 rebounds, 1 assist, 1 block, 3 fouls, 9-for-19 shooting, 3-for-8 threes, 55.3% TS, +13
One of the best things that Klay is doing right now is providing flurries. Even when he has games where his efficiency is only average, he’s likely to have a span of a few minutes where he goes scorched earth and turns a deficit into a lead, or a small lead into a big lead. And those moments really pump the Warriors and their fans up, and demoralize the opponent and their fanbase.
He caught fire for a stretch in this one, and you could feel the wind leaving the Nuggets sails.
Grade: B
Jordan Poole
34 minutes, 29 points, 5 rebounds, 8 assists, 2 steals, 1 block, 2 turnovers, 2 fouls, 10-for-16 shooting, 5-for-10 threes, 4-for-4 free throws, 81.6% TS, +7
Poole’s performance was magical, but rather than try and describe how great it was for the umpteenth time, I’m just going to drop this thought I had during the post-game presser.
I don’t envy Steve Kerr having to figure out the starting lineup, but I will say, listening to the Warriors core talk … there is no part of them caring about veterans or players who have “earned their stripes.” It’s abundantly clear they see Poole as a star.
— Brady Klopfer (@BradyKlopferNBA) April 19, 2022
Listening to Steph Curry and Draymond Green talk about Poole makes it abundantly clear that they have total confidence in him, and believe he needs to be on the floor. He’s ready for the moment, he’s craving for the moment, and he’s become a star.
It’s hard to see the Warriors keeping him off the court. Now let’s watch some unreal highlights.
Grade: A+
Post-game bonus: Led the team in assists.
Nemanja Bjelica
16 minutes, 10 points, 2 rebounds, 1 assist, 1 steal, 2 fouls, 5-for-6 shooting, 0-for-1 threes, 83.3% TS, +3
Bjeli didn’t have the gaudy assist total that he sometimes does, but this was a very strong game for him. He helped frustrate Jokić and DeMarcus Cousins, and was an aggressive scorer with some excellent cutting. The offense functioned really well with him on the court, and he held his own defensively.
Grade: B+
Jonathan Kuminga
5 minutes, 0 points, 1 steal, 2 turnovers, -3
I was curious if Kuminga might get a few minutes with Andre Iguodala out, but no, just garbage time. I suspect it will stay that way until the Warriors are struggling and Steve Kerr needs to try mixing things up. Kuminga will likely be the first name off the bench if that happens.
Grade: Incomplete
Post-game bonus: Tied for the worst plus/minus on the team.
Otto Porter Jr.
22 minutes, 3 points, 4 rebounds, 2 assists, 1 block, 1 turnover, 1-for-5 shooting, 1-for-4 threes, 30.0% TS, +4
Watching Porter play a huge role in this game made me think of only one thing: how happy he must be that he took a slightly smaller paycheck to play with the Dubs.
That decision sure looks good now, as he’s a huge bench piece for a team that looks like a serious title contender. And even though his shot isn’t falling, he’s playing really good basketball right now, and critical to what the team is doing on both ends of the court.
Grade: B
Juan Toscano-Anderson
5 minutes, 3 points, 1 rebound, 1 assist, 1 steal, 1-for-1 shooting, 1-for-2 free throws, 79.8% TS, -3
Garbage time for JTA, but he certainly spent it filling up the stat sheet!
Grade: Incomplete
Post-game bonus: Tied for the worst plus/minus on the team.
Steph Curry
23 minutes, 34 points, 3 rebounds, 4 assists, 1 steal, 1 block, 2 turnovers, 3 fouls, 12-for-17 shooting, 5-for-10 threes, 5-for-7 free throws, 84.7% TS, +32
When Draymond Green sat down for his post-game presser he looked at the stat sheet, saw Steph Curry’s line and plus/minus, and exclaimed, “Jesus!” Which is also what I exclaimed after this play.
I have no words for the performance Curry put on, in just his second game in the last month, while still dealing with pain in his foot.
He made half of his triples. He made all of his shots inside the arc. His team outscored the opponent by 34 points in his 23 minutes. The only stain was two missed technical free throws, which led to some funny quotes.
Steph Curry missed two technical free throws. Jordan Poole led the league in FT% this year. Is it Poole’s turn to take them?
Poole: “No comment.”
Kerr: “They have to hash that out.”
Curry: “Never. Never.”
— Brady Klopfer (@BradyKlopferNBA) April 19, 2022
He’s very clearly still as good as anyone else on the planet, and when he gets back to playing full minutes? Watch out, world.
Grade: A+
Post-game bonus: Led the team in points and plus/minus.
Damion Lee
5 minutes, 4 points, 1-for-2 shooting, 0-for-1 threes, 2-for-2 free throws, 69.4% TS, -3
Garbage time for Lee, and always fun to see him knock in some shots.
Grade: Incomplete
Post-game bonus: Tied for the worst plus/minus on the team.
Gary Payton II
18 minutes, 3 points, 5 rebounds, 1 assist, 1 steal, 2 blocks, 1 foul, 0-for-1 shooting, 3-for-4 free throws, 54.4% TS, +7
GPII made his presence felt on the defensive end, and definitely got under Jokić’s skin when he blocked the MVP’s shot and then, when going for a timeout, slapped him on the butt, eliciting quite a reaction.
I’m always amazed at how great Payton’s defense is on bigs. He knows just how to provide the perfect pesky help defense.
Grade: B+
Moses Moody
5 minutes, 0 points, 1 rebound, 1 turnover, 0-for-1 shooting, 0.0% TS, -3
It’s always a good sign when your garbage-time players are the only ones with a negative plus/minus.
Grade: Incomplete
Post-game bonus: Tied for the worst plus/minus on the team.
Monday’s inactives: Andre Iguodala, James Wiseman
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