Player grades: Warriors vs. Knicks

Well that was a lot of fun. The Golden State Warriors, despite traveling foibles on the back end of a road back-to-back, grit their teeth and managed a 105-96 win over the New York Knicks.

The biggest story was Steph Curry setting the all-time record for threes made, which was a touching and emotional moment. But the importance in any game is the outcome, and the Warriors got what they were looking for on that front.

So let’s grade the players, weighting for our expectations.

Draymond Green

32 minutes, 8 points, 11 rebounds, 7 assists, 1 steal, 3 blocks, 3 turnovers, 3 fouls, 3-for-6 shooting, 1-for-1 threes, 1-for-2 free throws, +8

A pretty typical night at the office for Dray who, as he tends to do, did a little bit of everything. The aggression attacking the rim is really paying off lately, as he’s capitalizing on the opportunities created by teams selling out for Curry.

Grade: A-

Post-game bonus: Led the team in rebounds and assists.

Andrew Wiggins

34 minutes, 18 points, 6 rebounds, 3 assists, 2 turnovers, 1 foul, 6-for-13 shooting, 3-for-6 threes, 3-for-6 free throws, +4

There are areas to nitpick, as there often are with Wiggins, but this is exactly the type of game that the Warriors have him for. He was a great secondary and/or tertiary scoring option, knocking in 18 points on strong efficiency with his usual solid defense.

Plus, he assisted Curry on the record-breaking three, so he has a part in Warriors history now.

Grade: A-

Kevon Looney

24 minutes, 4 points, 5 rebounds, 1 assist, 1 block, 3 fouls, 2-for-4 shooting, +12

Looney has been getting more and more minutes lately, and can you blame Steve Kerr? Things are starting to work really well when he’s on the court. He’s taking advantage of Curry’s gravity, playing well within the system, and, as always, defending well.

He even had a eurostep layup!

Grade: B+

Steph Curry

35 minutes, 22 points, 3 rebounds, 3 assists, 1 steal, 1 block, 4 turnovers, 4 fouls, 8-for-20 shooting, 5-for-14 threes, 1-for-2 free throws, +13

Curry’s string of inefficient (by his historically-great standards) scoring nights continued. It will be interesting to see if finally having the record in the rearview mirror allows him to settle into a rhythm a little bit more.

Still, you can’t complain about a player setting a record on a historic night. Well done, Steph.

Grade: A+ for the achievement

Post-game bonus: Led the team in points and plus/minus.

Jordan Poole

34 minutes, 19 points, 9 rebounds, 3 assists, 3 turnovers, 4 fouls, 3-for-11 shooting, 0-for-6 threes, 13-for-13 free throws, +6

If you had told me before the season that Poole would have an 0-for-6 game from distance where I still gave him an “A” grade I would not have believed you. But JP continued to show his improvement in attacking the rim. He attempted nearly half of the team’s 27 free throws, and his aggression often set up other players.

Grade: A-

Nemanja Bjelica

17 minutes, 14 points, 4 rebounds, 4 assists, 2 fouls, 5-for-5 shooting, 4-for-4 threes, 0-for-2 free throws, -2

There’s something really funny to me about a player going a perfect 5-for-5 from the field and a perfect 4-for-4 from the three point line, and then having an 0-for-2 night from the free throw line.

Basketball is weird, but other than the charity stripe foibles, this was Bjelica at his very best.

Grade: A+

Jonathan Kuminga

10 minutes, 4 points, 2 rebounds, 2-for-2 shooting, +7

Kuminga is getting some steady rotation minutes right now, and all I can say is that he is absolutely earning them. His offensive aggression is now being met with some smart decision-making and restraint, and his defense continues to impress.

Grade: A-

Andre Iguodala

14 minutes, 2 points, 4 rebounds, 5 assists, 0-for-4 shooting, 0-for-4 threes, 2-for-2 free throws, +3

It’s never a good time to shoot 0-for-4 from distance, but if you’re going to do it, might as well dole out more than an assist every three minutes.

Mostly it’s just nice to see Iguodala back on the court.

Grade: B

Juan Toscano-Anderson

13 minutes, 2 points, 1 rebound, 2 assists, 1-for-4 shooting, -7

A rather ho-hum night for JTA, who didn’t really contribute much in this game.

Grade: C+

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

Damion Lee

17 minutes, 7 points, 3 rebounds, 4 fouls, 3-for-7 shooting, 1-for-4 threes, -4

Lee had a really ugly first half of basketball, but bounced back with a pivotal second half in which he had some incredibly important plays.

Grade: B

Gary Payton II

10 minutes, 5 points, 1 rebound, 1 steal, 1 block, 1 foul, 2-for-2 shooting, 1-for-1 threes, +5

Yesterday I mentioned that GP2 became the second player this year to have a steal and a block without a rebound or an assist, and then he came so close to doing it on back-to-back nights!

Grade: B+

Tuesday’s DNPs: Moses Moody

Tuesday’s inactives: Chris Chiozza, Jeff Dowtin, Otto Porter Jr., Klay Thompson, James Wiseman