Player grades: Warriors vs. Grizzlies

Assessing every Golden State player’s performance in the team’s 121-113 win over Memphis.

The Golden State Warriors pulled off a strong win on Saturday night, beating the Memphis Grizzlies 121-113 despite Steph Curry’s absence. It moved them two games above .500, and gave them their first winning streak since before Thanksgiving.

It was excellent work all around, so let’s grade the players. 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 Saturday’s games, league-average TS was 57.4%.

Andrew Wiggins

36 minutes, 24 points, 2 rebounds, 3 assists, 4 steals, 2 turnovers, 1 foul, 9-for-17 shooting, 3-for-10 threes, 3-for-3 free throws, 65.5% TS, +10

Wiggins didn’t have a good first half. And, despite playing more minutes than anyone on either team, he only grabbed two of the 92 rebounds.

Don’t care. In the third quarter, with both Curry and Jonathan Kuminga sidelined, Wiggins absolutely exploded. He scored the team’s first seven points, and 18 points total in the quarter, almost single-handedly squashing Memphis’ repeated attempts to delete Golden State’s lead.

He also played brilliant defense on Desmond Bane, who needed 20 shots (and two free throws) to score 22 points, and committed eight turnovers.

Fantastic work, Wiggs.

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

Draymond Green

31 minutes, 9 points, 2 rebounds, 3 assists, 2 steals, 1 block, 2 turnovers, 4 fouls, 3-for-7 shooting, 3-for-6 threes, 64.3% TS, +10

For the bulk of Green’s career, he’s been known for having an impact that the box score doesn’t quite capture. And my goodness was that the case in this game. Draymond was a defensive wrecking ball. I really can’t put into words just how impressive his defensive performance was.

The threes sure were nice, too.

Grade: A

Trayce Jackson-Davis

28 minutes, 11 points, 9 rebounds, 5 assists, 3 steals, 1 turnover, 2 fouls, 5-for-13 shooting, 1-for-1 free throws, 40.9% TS, +12

Certainly not a very efficient game for TJD, but he played fairly well nonetheless. Against a much taller Zach Edey, Jackson-Davis played strong defense and gobbled up rebounds. Edey only took two shots and two free throws all night, and TJD was a huge reason for that.

The efficiency will come, but every other part of his game was there.

Grade: B+
Post-game bonus: Led the team in rebounds.

Buddy Hield

24 minutes, 14 points, 2 rebounds, 3 assists, 3 turnovers, 2 fouls, 5-for-9 shooting, 4-for-7 threes, 77.8% TS, +18

Hield will never be a defensive stud. And sure, seeing the rebounds go up and the turnovers go down would be nice. But he’s on the court and paid handsomely to drain threes and score buckets, and he did those things very well on Saturday night. It was perhaps the best shooting night of the year for the Dubs, who went 23-for-43 from distance, and Hield was a huge part of that.

Grade: B+
Post-game bonus: Best plus/minus on the team.

Dennis Schröder

36 minutes, 17 points, 3 rebounds, 9 assists, 1 steal, 3 turnovers, 1 foul, 6-for-15 shooting, 3-for-6 threes, 2-for-4 free throws, 50.7% TS, +13

It took a little which, which is to be expected, but Schröder is starting to fit right in wearing a Dubs jersey. It wasn’t a very efficient night, but he made some huge shots at the beginning and end of the game, and ran the offense brilliantly. His defense was strong, and perhaps most importantly, his competitive fire and leadership were fully on display. Somehow having he and Green on the court at the same time made it feel like the Dubs weren’t going to get intimidated or out-toughed.

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

Jonathan Kuminga

15 minutes, 13 points, 2 rebounds, 2 assists, 4 turnovers, 4-for-6 shooting, 3-for-3 threes, 2-for-4 free throws, 83.8% TS, 0 plus/minus

Kuminga had something of an odd game. He had some offensive wizardry, leading the team in scoring in the first half while making all of his shots from beyond the arc. But he did try to force the issue a whole lot, repeatedly dribbling into congestion multiple times and having his pocket picked. Four turnovers in 15 minutes is a whole lot, and most of them were very easy to see coming.

Unfortunately, Kuminga became the biggest story of the game when he sprained his ankle in the second quarter. It looks like he’s going to be sidelined for a while, and that’s a mega bummer.

Grade: Please be OK

Lindy Waters III

28 minutes, 16 points, 3 rebounds, 2 assists, 1 steal, 1 block, 1 turnover, 2 fouls, 6-for-7 shooting, 4-for-5 threes, 114.3% TS, -5

Holy smokes what a game Waters had. For one night, at least, no Curry, no problem. Waters went on an 8-0 run all by himself to start the second quarter, prompting Memphis to call a quick timeout, and he had multiple huge shots in the closing minutes.

He might bounce in and out of the rotation, but what a luxury that is for Steve Kerr.

Grade: A+

Kyle Anderson

22 minutes, 7 points, 3 rebounds, 3 assists, 1 steal, 2 blocks, 1 turnover, 2 fouls, 3-for-5 shooting, 1-for-3 threes, 0-for-1 free throws, 64.3% TS, -2

After the game, Kerr said that Anderson will see a bump in minutes to replace Kuminga while JK is sidelined. And Slo Mo certainly proved more than capable of handling those minutes, which started in earnest in the second half of this game.

Like Waters, he’s just such a luxury ... a veteran player who almost always makes the right decision, and can bounce between being a DNP and having a large role.

Grade: A-

Moses Moody

9 minutes, 8 points, 2 fouls, 2-for-3 shooting, 2-for-3 threes, 2-for-3 free throws, 92.6% TS, -11

I don’t know why Moody played so little in this game. He played really well.

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

Pat Spencer

12 minutes, 2 points, 3 rebounds, 2 assists, 1 steal, 1 block, 1 turnover, 2 fouls, 1-for-2 shooting, 50.0% TS, -5

Spencer had a really cool moment in the first quarter when he and his brother, Grizzlies guard Cam Spencer, both checked into the game at the same time.

I guess the lack of playmaking with Curry and Brandin Podziemski sidelined is why Spencer got so many minutes over Moody, but that was still odd. He played well, though!

Grade: A-

Saturday’s DNP-CDs: Kevon Looney, Gui Santos
Saturday’s inactives: Steph Curry, Gary Payton II, Brandin Podziemski, Quinten Post