Player grades: Warriors vs. Clippers

Assessing every Golden State player’s performance in the team’s 121-119 loss.

Wow. Wow, wow, wow. Sunday was the final game of the 2024-25 NBA regular season, and the Golden State Warriors and LA Clippers locked heads for 53 minutes, producing one of the best regular season games you will ever witness. Unfortunately, it ended in heartbreak for the Warriors, who lost 121-119. With the loss, the Warriors missed their opportunity to make the playoffs outright, and will now head to the play-in tournament, where they’ll be the top seed and host the Memphis Grizzlies on Tuesday.

So, for the final time this regular season, let’s grade the players. As always, grades are based on my expectations of each player, with a “B” grade representing the average performance for each player.

Note: True-shooting percentage (TS) is a scoring efficiency metric that accounts for threes and free throws. Entering Friday’s games, league-average TS was 57.6%.

Moses Moody

31 minutes, 4 points, 2 assists, 3 steals, 2 blocks, 1 turnover, 4 fouls, 2-for-4 shooting, 0-for-1 threes, 50.0% TS, -14

I have no idea what to make of Moody’s game, to be entirely transparent. He was beyond sensational early, with nearly flawless defense. He had five stocks within the first 15:30 of the game. And then his opening assignment — James Harden — started to figure him out. Suddenly Harden was destroying Moody on nearly every possession. Moody couldn’t slow Harden, and also got into foul trouble.

To compound it, he was a non-factor on offense, and didn’t grab any rebounds ... it was just the 115th time in the NBA this season that a player who played at least 30 minutes didn’t register a rebound.

So yeah. Weird game. I’m not sure how to balance how good he was early with how bad he was late, which cost him his spot in the closing lineup.

Grade: C

Jimmy Butler III

48 minutes, 30 points, 1 rebound, 9 assist, 1 steal, 1 block, 1 turnover, 1 foul, 12-for-20 shooting, 0-for-2 threes, 6-for-9 free throws, 62.6% TS, +2

Butler also didn’t grab many rebounds — really, no one on the Warriors did, as they were out-boarded 49-34. But unlike Moody, Butler did do a fantastic job boxing out and tapping rebounds to teammates. He was a factor on the glass, even if he didn’t actually secure rebounds.

More importantly, we were treated to Playoff Jimmy. He was sensational on offense. He bullied Bogdan Bogdanović off the court — I was watching the Clippers broadcast and they were outright saying that Ty Lue needed to take Bogdanović off the court. Butler made brilliant passes, as evidenced by nine assists against just one turnover, and, as we’ve grown accustomed to, he played his best when it mattered most. No Warriors was as god as Butler late in the third quarter, late in the fourth quarter, or late in overtime.

This is why the Warriors acquired Butler and, had Steph Curry had a more normal game, we’d all be singing Butler’s praises as being the hero in victory.

Alas.

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

Draymond Green

38 minutes, 14 points, 3 rebounds, 4 assists, 1 steal, 2 blocks, 2 turnovers, 5 fouls, 5-for-9 shooting, 4-for-6 threes, 77.8% TS, -5

Well, here’s a little painful irony. Green had one of his best scoring games of the year, dropping in 14 points on exceptional efficiency, with countless threes at pivotal moments. Yet the lasting image from the game will be Dray missing an uncontested layup with 37 seconds remaining in overtime, which would have tied the game.

It looked like Green was playing for contact that never came, but afterwards he said simply, “I smoked it.”

He played extremely active defense, though I’m not sure it was the best defensive game for him. He got beat up by the bigger Ivica Zubac inside, though he was awesome in a roving role, and when tasked with defending Kawhi Leonard, including holding Leonard to a difficult shot at the end of regulation.

Not a great play-making game, though, and he got into foul trouble.

Grade: B

Brandin Podziemski

43 minutes, 19 points, 7 rebounds, 4 assists, 2 steals, 1 block, 2 turnovers, 4 fouls, 7-for-11 shooting, 2-for-4 threes, 3-for-5 free throws, 72.0% TS, +12

Podziemski faded a bit late, and I’m not sure if that was due to the style and intensity of the game in the closing minutes, or the fact that he played 43 minutes. But setting that aside, he had a sensational game. He was the most active Warrior on the glass, made brilliant passes all night long, and scored efficiently, frequently, and in critical moments.

He’s quickly becoming a core part of the team.

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

Steph Curry

38 minutes, 36 points, 3 rebounds, 6 assists, 2 steals, 8 turnovers, 2 fouls, 10-for-20 shooting, 7-for-12 threes, 9-for-9 free throws, 75.1% TS, -16

If you need to feel optimistic about the Warriors, they were in it until the final seconds — against a team that’s been one of the absolute best in the NBA when healthy — despite being outscored by 16 points when Curry was on the court.

I have no idea how to grade him, either. On the one hand, he went tit-for-tat with Harden, making shot after shot, scoring 36 points on outrageous efficiency, and making huge shots when the game was on the line.

On the other hand, he had eight turnovers, and truthfully, that number underscores how poor his ball control was. The turnovers came in incredibly harmful moments — including one each in the final minutes of both regulation and overtime — and he hand a handful of other sloppy passes that could have easily been turnovers.

To add a third hand to the equation, Curry was clearly dealing with pain in his injured thumb, which caused him to be a game-time decision, and it seems that impacted his play.

I feel dirty giving Curry a bad grade for scoring that many points, with that outrageous of efficiency, while making that many highlights ... but I also can’t truthfully say that he played as well as we’ve grown accustomed to.

Grade: C+
Post-game bonus: Led the team in points, worst plus/minus on the team.

Buddy Hield

16 minutes, 8 points, 1 rebound, 2 fouls, 3-for-7 shooting, 2-for-6 threes, 57.1% TS, -6

Before we actually talk about Hield, I want to address something, since I’ve seen a lot of takes flying around already online. It just needs to be said. So I’m going to say it.

The play that Steve Kerr drew up at the end of overtime to get Hield a three was absolutely brilliant. Absolutely brilliant.

I’ve seen a lot of talk that it was an awful play design, so let’s remember the situation. There were 6.1 seconds remaining, and the Warriors were down three. The Clippers knew the Warriors were only going to take a three. On top of that, the Clippers were going to foul to prevent a three if they got an opportunity. And it hopefully goes without saying that they were going to do any and everything in their power to make sure Curry didn’t get a look. Hield is shooting 37.0% on threes this year, 39.7% in his career, and was 2-for-5 in the game to that point. Getting him an open three, in that scenario, is an absolutely spectacular result. On the Clippers broadcast, they were gushing about the design of the ATO, and how lucky LA was to not get burned by such a well-designed play.

I just had to say that.

Of course, Hield missed the shot, which happens. He didn’t have a standout day, for better or for worse.

Grade: B-

Kevon Looney

16 minutes, 6 points, 3 rebounds, 3 assists, 1 steal, 3-for-3 shooting, 100.0% TS, -3

Good minutes from Looney. Really good minutes. The Warriors needed some size with what Zubac was doing, and Looney provided it, and exceptionally well. It seems he’s regained his role as the top traditional center on the depth chart, though that could certainly change depending on the matchups.

Grade: A-

Gary Payton II

25 minutes, 2 points, 4 rebounds, 3 assists, 1 steal, 1 turnover, 2 fouls, 1-for-4 shooting, 0-for-1 threes, 25.0% TS, +4

Bit of an odd game for Payton. He was a non-factor on offense, and he was on the court defending Harden for many of Harden’s best moments. At the same time, it really felt like Payton was playing strong defense, and it was a case of great offense beating great defense.

That’s certainly what Kerr thought, at least. Payton supplanted Moody in the closing lineup, both in the final minutes of the fourth quarter and in all of overtime.

I thought he played pretty well, but I’m not going to argue with anyone who feels differently.

Grade: B

Quinten Post

10 minutes, 0 points, 3 rebounds, 0-for-1 shooting, 0-for-1 threes, 0.0% TS, +1

Post played pretty well defensively, but was a non-factor on offense. He missed his only shot, and really just wasn’t providing much on that end of the court.

Grade: C

Sunday’s DNP-CDs: Trayce Jackson-Davis, Braxton Key, Kevin Knox II, Jonathan Kuminga, Gui Santos, Pat Spencer

Sunday’s inactives: Taran Armstrong, Jackson Rowe