The script was similar Friday night. The Golden State Warriors once again fell behind by double digits early on and once again erased the deficit with dynamic two-way play. It wasn’t as dramatic as their wins over the Portland Trail Blazers and Los Angeles Clippers, but Friday night’s 108-99 win over the New Orleans Pelicans was at least telling.
Remarkably, the Dubs swept a five-game home stand without a single game played by Steph Curry or Andrew Wiggins. (not counting the two absences of Draymond Green). They’re clicking on all cylinders right now (minus the first quarter cylinders), and reinforcements are on the way: Curry should be back on Sunday.
Now let’s note the players who were in action on Friday night. As always, the ratings are weighted according to my expectations for each player, with the “B” rating representing someone’s average performance.
Note: True Shot Percentage (TS) is a measure of shooting efficiency that accounts for threes and free throws. Going into Friday’s games, the league average TS was 58.0%.
Draymond Green
24 minutes, 4 points, 5 rebounds, 1 assist, 1 block, 4 turnovers, 6 fouls, 2 for 4 shots, 0 for 1 three, 50.0% TS, +4
A fairly difficult game from Green. He had to sit on the bench just minutes after being fouled, and was also limited in the second half, before committing a foul in the final minute. He was a big part of the team’s defensive performance in the second half, when they held New Orleans down to just 42 points, but other than that he played very poorly.
The best thing that can be said about his performance, other than the second half defense, is that he avoided taking the technical foul that would have resulted in an automatic suspension…although he flirted with her throughout the game.
Rating: D+
Kevon Looney
24 minutes, 10 points, 11 rebounds, 3 assists, 2 turnovers, 3 fouls, 5-on-6 shooting, 83.3% TS, +4
Just another day at the office for Looney. This type of performance has become the norm for him. He patrolled the paint, controlled the glass and showed how good his offense was with perfect timing and angles on his rim rolls.
Rating: A-
Post-match bonus: Led the team in rebounds.
Klay Thompson
34 minutes, 27 points, 1 rebound, 4 assists, 1 steal, 1 turnover, 10 for 17 shots, 4 for 9 threes, 3 for 4 free throws, 72.0% TS, +4
If Klay is scoring this well and efficiently right now, imagine what he’ll look like when fellow Splash Brother is back in the lineup.
Not only does he control the attack, but he’s always SO clutch, with a huge three whenever the Warriors need it. His game was one of the best I’ve seen in this game, and he didn’t look compromised at all playing the back of a back-to-back.
What joy.
Rating: A
Post-match bonus: Led the team in points.
Donte Di Vincenzo
32 minutes, 3 points, 7 rebounds, 6 assists, 1 steal, 2 turnovers, 4 fouls, 1 for 3 shots, 1 for 3 threes, 50.0% TS, +1
A strong reminder from DiVincenzo that even guards don’t need to score to impact the game. As the Warriors played fairly slowly outside the gates, DiVincenzo provided a burst of energy on top of his outstanding perimeter defense on CJ McCollum. And six assists? Yeah. He can do a bit of everything.
Help that the only shot he made was at a huge moment.
Grade: B+
Jordan Poole
34 mins, 18 points, 2 rebounds, 7 assists, 1 steal, 1 block, 3 turnovers, 2 fouls, 3-for-13, 0-for-5 3, 12-for-12 free throws, 49.2% TS, +11
We’ve seen Poole have a lot of bad nights on set this year. What we do not have saw much of what he did on Friday: relentlessly attacking the rim to get easy shots on the charity strip, and running around the defense like a rough quarterback until a play grows to make a teammate.
It was huge progress for Poole, who didn’t settle for back jumpers when he got cold.
Category B
Post-match bonus: Led the team in assists.
Jonathan Kuminga
32 minutes, 19 points, 7 rebounds, 4 steals, 1 block, 2 turnovers, 3 fouls, 9 for 13 shots, 1 for 2 3, 73.1% TS, +13
Am I a prisoner of the moment if I say it was the best match of Kuminga’s career?
Over the last few games we’ve really seen things start to come together for JK. That’s what the team was considering when they drafted him. That’s why he was a lottery pick. That’s why Steve Kerr has said so many times — publicly and privately — that if he focuses on defense and getting the right reads, the results will follow.
He showed dominance in this game and was effective in just about every facet of the game. He looked like a player who could be an eternal All-Star, or at least a high-quality starter on a great team. .
Rating: A+
Post-match bonus: Best team plus/minus.
Green Ja Mychal
15 minutes, 14 points, 6 rebounds, 1 assist, 2 blocks, 1 foul, 5 shots for 7, 1 for 2 3, 3 for 4 free throws, 79.9% TS, -1
Green has been a foot and a half out of the rotation in recent games, but with his namesake at fault early in this one he was pushed into action. And he answered the call in a huge way. There was energy. There were a ton of bounces. There were emphatic dunks. There have been some of his best defensive moments since donning a Dubs jersey.
He may not be able to make an impact every night, but there are nights when he is a critical element.
Rating: A
Antoine Lamb
17 mins, 11 points, 1 assist, 1 foul, shooting 4 for 10, 3 for 8 threes, 55.0% TS, +5
Lamb’s shooting was better than the numbers suggest, as he had a couple of times he took wild shots to bail the team out at the shot clock buzzer. But beyond a few well-timed threes, he didn’t really make much of an impact in this one.
He only has one game left on his two-way eligibility.
Grade: C+
You Jerome
22 minutes, 2 points, 3 rebounds, 5 assists, 2 turnovers, 2 fouls, 1 for 5 shots, 0 for 1 threes, 20.0% TS, -3
Jerome’s offense has come up against a wall of ice lately. In his last four games, he’s shot just 4 of 18 from the field and 0 of 7 from three. He does plenty of other things though, but the defenses certainly don’t pay him much attention.
Grade: C+
Post-match bonus: The worst plus/minus of the team.
Moses Moody
6 minutes, 0 points, 1 rebound, 2 turnovers, +7
After being relegated to bad weather the last two games, Moody actually got a run in this contest, starting in the second quarter.
He didn’t really do much, but he didn’t have many opportunities either.
Rating: C
Friday DNPs: Patrick Baldwin Jr., Lester Quinones
Friday inactives: Steph Curry, Andre Iguodala, Gary Payton II, Ryan Rollins, Andrew Wiggins
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