For the second time in three nights, the Golden State Warriors overcame a double-digit halftime deficit and won a blowout. This time they were 11 down at halftime against the Los Angeles Clippers before a stunning 42-16 in the third quarter completely turned the script around. They never thought that as LA went into the dressing room in full control, Ty Lue would wave the white flag with a whopping eight minutes left in the game.
Unreal. One of the best performances of the year, and the Dubs are playing perhaps their best basketball of the year despite missing two starters, including the face of their franchise. Permission to be optimistic.
Now let’s grade the good people who made it. As always, grades are weighted based on my expectations for each player. A “B” grade represents a player’s average performance.
Note: True-Shooting Percentage (TS) is a measure of hit efficiency that takes into account three-pointers and free throws. The league average TS is 58.0%.
Draymond Green
29 minutes, 11 points, 9 rebounds, 9 assists, 4 turnovers, 4 fouls, 5 on 7 shooting, 0 on 1 treble, 1 on 2 free throws, 69.8% TS, +19
If that game hadn’t had so much junk time, Green would have had his first triple-double of the season. But that’s not what I want to talk about.
We need to talk about defense. This was perhaps the best defensive performance of the season for the Warriors, although it’s worth noting that they were helped by an untenably poor night of shooting from across LAC’s arc – Paul George, Eric Gordon and Norman Powell won’t be combined again 3-a-side anytime soon. Shoot 25 from afar, even while blindfolded. But even so, the defense was enormous.
Green is always at the heart of what the Warriors do defensively. He was flawless on this occasion, dropping 15 feet from Russell Westbrook (who had more turnovers than shots made) and playing a rover role on defense that would do an All-Pro safety proud.
Elite.
Class: A
Post-Game Bonus: Led the team in assists.
Kevin Looney
25 mins, 11 points, 8 rebounds, 1 assist, 4 fouls, 4 on 7 shooting, 0 on 1 three, 3 on 4 free throws, 62.8% TS, +17
Looney has been dominant on the glass lately, but Mason Plumlee defeated him in this instance, winning the central rebound fight 20-8. His defense was still fantastic and he had some offensive highlights, but it was still shocking to see someone perform so well against him.
grade B-
Clay Thompson
30 mins, 19 points, 11 rebounds, 4 assists, 2 steals, 1 block, 1 turnover, 2 fouls, 7 on 16 shooting, 3 on 8 trebles, 2 on 2 free throws, 56.3% TS, +16
Klay has been keeping the Warriors afloat with his shooting lately. But in this game, it was his all-around play that got the job done. Even though Looney lost the rebound fight in double digits down the middle, the Dubs still overtook the Clippers 60-47, in part because Klay had a career-high 11 board. He had some of his better passes of the season and his defense looked fantastic.
It’s not often that Klay has a really good game that isn’t about blowing the nets, but this was one.
Grade: B+
Post-Game Bonus: Tied for team lead in rebounds.
Donte DiVincenzo
31 mins, 5 points, 11 rebounds, 2 steals, 2 blocks, 1 turnover, 1 foul, 2-on-10 shooting, 1-on-6 trebles, 25.0% TS, +22
It was an unusually poor offensive night for DiVincenzo, who couldn’t buy a bucket and finished without an assist. And yet he made a huge impact in this game.
Like Klay, DiVincenzo was everywhere. He recovered as if his job depended on it. His defense was absolutely phenomenal…he was asked to guard a much larger All-Star in Paul George and pinned him on a 3-on-15 shootout and only four free throws.
Sometimes people criticize me because I put too much emphasis on how offensive or defensive a player is on the field than on their specific contributions. But if you’ve seen this game, you’ll understand what I mean when I talk about it. DiVincenzo’s stats look very mediocre, but damn…the Warriors just worked when he played.
Grade: B+
Post-Game Bonus: Tie for team lead in rebounds, best plus/minus on team.
Jordan Poole
32 minutes, 34 points, 4 rebounds, 3 assists, 2 steals, 3 turnovers, 1 foul, 9-on-20 shooting, 5-on-12 three-pointers, 11-on-12 free throws, 67.3% TS , +19
Poole had a pretty tough first half, but he was nothing short of a superstar in the second half. In a game featuring five future Hall of Famers, Poole spent the second half being the best player on the court and racking up 25 points in 6-for-10 shooting.
Maybe I shouldn’t apologize for the poor first half or the sheer number of heat checks he fired, but for tonight I will. It was a reminder of how dynamic Poole can be, how creative his scoring and playmaking can be, how well he can balance attacking on the rim, hitting the free throw line and bombing in threes, and just how much defensive potential he has.
Class: A
Post-Game Bonus: Led the team on points.
Jonathan Kuminga
29 mins, 19 points, 7 rebounds, 2 assists, 2 steals, 2 blocks, 2 turnovers, 3 fouls, 7 on 12 shooting, 3 on 4 trebles, 2 on 3 free throws, 71.3% TS, +19
This game was the total package for Kuminga. Perhaps his most comprehensive game to date. He is hot. he drove He cut. He has passed. He got out in turn. He set up screens. He recovered. And he defended himself as if his only aim was to make Draymond proud.
He really comes into his own. Not only is this huge for the Warriors, but it’s an absolute joy to watch.
Class: A
Yes, Mychal Green
5 minutes, 0 points, 1 foul, -2
The second game in a row that JMG got a brief stint in the second quarter and then never returned. After a good streak of games, he’s mostly out of rotation at the moment. It’s hard to get excited about that considering how well Looney, Kuminga and Draymond are playing.
Grade: C
Anthony Lamb
27 mins, 5 points, 2 rebounds, 1 assist, 1 block, 2 fouls, 1v7 shooting, 1v5 trebles, 2v2 free throws, 31.7% TS, +9
I stand by my point from Tuesday’s game, which is that Lamb has really gotten a lot better at finding ways to help the team, even when his stats are ugly…like they were Thursday.
It wasn’t a good game for him, but he was a lot better than the stats would suggest. His shot is really struggling right now, though: in his last 10 games, Lamb has been shooting 5-for-27 from three-point range.
Class: C
Patrick Baldwin Jr.
9 mins, 4 points, 3 rebounds, 2 assists, 1 block, 2 fouls, 2-on-6 shooting, 0-on-3 threes, 33.3% TS, -5
For the third game in a row, Baldwin got an honest rotation run. Not much of it, but some of it. Fun to watch and he seems well ahead of Moses Moody on the depth chart at the moment.
His three-point shot didn’t come off in this instance, but we saw more of his all-around play than before. He moved the ball well, cut well and played what was probably the best defense of his young career. Additionally, the show revealed that he’s grown two inches since drafting and is now 6’11” tall!
Grade B
Post-Game Bonus: Worst plus/minus in the team.
Ty Jerome
20 mins, 4 points, 4 rebounds, 3 assists, 1 steal, 1v6 shooting, 0v4 trebles, 2v2 free throws, 29.1% TS, +6
A tough shooting night for Jerome, but a strong game that kept the offense clean.
Class: C
Moses Moody
5 mins, 3 points, 1 rebound, 1v2 shooting, 1v2 threes, 75.0% TS, 0 +/-
Again just garbage time for Moody.
Note: Incomplete
Inactive on Thursday: Steph Curry, Andre Iguodala, Gary Payton II, Lester Quiñones, Ryan Rollins, Andrew Wiggins
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