Thinks it’ll help Jordan Poole as he shifts back to bench. pic. twitter. com/LSkes3omfb— Anthony Slater (@anthonyVslater) November 15, 2022 Good. That’s how it should be. Green is a trustworthy veteran, and there’s no reason to stop playing him just because he was one of five million bench players to struggle in the first few weeks.
Player grades: Warriors vs. SpursThe Golden State Warriors put on an absolute clinic on Monday night, destroying the San Antonio Spurs 132-95 in their most complete game of the season. Fun was had for everyone, except Gregg Popovich’s squad. The red pen should be fairly kind today, but let’s break it out anyway. As always, players are graded based on our expectations of them, with a “B” representing the expected performance. Note: League-average true-shooting percentage (TS) was 57. 1% entering Monday’s games.
A lot better. I hope we don’t stop talking about the problematic stuff that took place off the court, or the Warriors willingness to overlook it. But grading based just on what happened on the court, Lamb was a star on Monday. James Wiseman 9 minutes, 2 points, 2 rebounds, 2 assists, 1-for-3 shooting, 33.
Jonathan Kuminga 25 minutes, 15 points, 3 rebounds, 2 assists, 1 turnover, 2 fouls, 5-for-8 shooting, 3-for-4 threes, 2-for-2 free throws, 84. 5% TS, +24 Holy cannoli! Kuminga had his best performance of the season, and it wasn’t even close. This was everything the Dubs want from JK: his attacked first, and settled for jumpers second. He didn’t get tunnel vision or stagnate on offense, and he used his athleticism as a weapon, rather than as something to bail him out of bad situations.
He can be a key part of the bench turning things around, and on Monday he was. Anthony Lamb 24 minutes, 17 points, 4 rebounds, 4 assists, 1 turnover, 2 fouls, 6-for-7 shooting, 5-for-6 threes, 121. 4% TS, +26 I don’t even have words for Lamb’s performance. Revelatory doesn’t feel strong enough, but something in that vein. If he keeps competing this hard and making almost every single shot he takes — he’s now 12-for-22 from deep this year — he’ll keep playing big minutes. He made the Dubs better tonight.
He just kind of existed, but he existed very well, because that’s the player he’s become. His default is quite good. Grade: B Kevon Looney 18 minutes, 2 points, 4 rebounds, 4 assists, 1 steal, 1-for-3 shooting, 33. 3% TS, +17 I was very happy that the Warriors had a blowout, so that Looney, their iron man, could finally get a little bit of rest. He deserves it! And I continue to be in awe of the strides he’s made as a passer. Steph Curry 27 minutes, 16 points, 5 rebounds, 5 assists, 1 steal, 1 turnover, 1 foul, 5-for-11 shooting, 3-for-7 threes, 3-for-3 free throws, 64. 9% TS, +17 It wasn’t Curry’s most electric stat line, but you got the sense that it could have been, if it had to be.
3% TS, -4 The big news of the game is that Kerr announced in his post-game presser that Wiseman would be headed to Santa Cruz on an “extended” G League assignment. Hopefully Wiseman can find some rhythm with lengthy run in Santa Cruz, because things have gotten rough for him lately. He’s really gone away from the Warriors offensive system, and seems to spend most of his time calling for the ball on the block — not the way the Warriors have ever run offense since Steve Kerr took over. That said, he had one exceptional pass in this game, and that was a great sign. Here’s hoping that wonderful things await Wiseman in Santa Cruz. Grade: C Post-game bonus: Worst plus/minus on the team. Donte DiVincenzo 9 minutes, 5 points, 2 assists, 2 steals, 3 turnovers, 3 fouls, 2-for-3 shooting, 1-for-2 threes, 83.
But for once the Warriors didn’t need Steph to be superman, and as a result, he didn’t lead the team in scoring for the first time all year. But he showed that he was ready and able to pop off if the Dubs needed him to at any point. Grade: B+ Jordan Poole 29 minutes, 36 points, 2 rebounds, 2 assists, 3 steals, 1 block, 1 foul, 13-for-20 shooting, 5-for-10 threes, 5-for-6 free throws, 79. 5% TS, +33 Poole left me speechless in this one. Jumpers. Layups. Half court.
3% TS, +10 Some good and bad from DDV. He continues to play so very well with Poole, which is massive. It’s not a coincidence that Poole has started to break out since DiVincenzo returned, and Donte started to show off his athleticism in this one. He also still looks rusty, which isn’t surprising since he hadn’t yet gotten into a rhythm when he got injured, and only just returned. A foul and a turnover every three minutes won’t fly, and he capped it off by getting ejected for a Flagrant 2 foul.