Player grades: Warriors vs. Jazz

The Golden State Warriors have a three-game winning streak! Despite the continued absences of Steph Curry and Andrew Wiggins (among others), the Dubs are finding their groove, and on Wednesday pulled off a come-from-behind win over the Utah Jazz.

Let’s grade the performance, weighting for our expectations of each player. A “B” grade is the average performance I expect from someone.

Note: True-shooting percentage (TS) is a measure of efficiency that accounts for three-pointers and free throws. Entering Wednesday’s games, league average was 57.7%.

Draymond Green

30 minutes, 6 points, 9 rebounds, 5 assists, 3 blocks, 1 turnover, 2 fouls, 2-for-7 shooting, 2-for-6 threes, 42.9% TS, +6

I think a good portion of the fanbase still underestimates how good Green is at this stage of his career. So rather than talking about him, I’m going to let Ty Jerome do my job for me.

Yep. Special.

Grade: A

Post-game bonus: Tied for the team lead in assists.

Kevon Looney

26 minutes, 6 points, 12 rebounds, 5 assists, 1 turnover, 2 fouls, 3-for-3 shooting, 100.0% TS, 0 plus/minus

Kevon Looney double-digit rebound games by season:

2015-16: 0
2016-17: 0
2017-18: 1
2018-19: 6
2019-20: 0 (missed most of the season with injury)
2020-21: 8
2021-22: 19
2022-23: 9 (through just 36 games)

Right now Looney is doing a little bit — sometimes a lotta bit — of everything.

Grade: A

Post-game bonus: Led the team in rebounds, tied for the team lead in assists.

Anthony Lamb

26 minutes, 10 points, 4 rebounds, 3 assists, 3-for-8 shooting, 1-for-5 threes, 3-for-3 free throws, 53.7% TS, -1

Lamb got his third start of the season and was fine. I wouldn’t call him an asset or a liability in this game, he just kind of was.

Grade: B

Donte DiVincenzo

39 minutes, 19 points, 4 rebounds, 2 assists, 2 steals, 1 turnover, 3 fouls, 5-for-11 shooting, 5-for-9 threes, 4-for-4 free throws, 74.5% TS, +5

Seeing DiVincenzo get starter’s minutes, and find his footing with the Dubs, has been the biggest silver lining of the team’s recent health struggles.

What didn’t DDV do in this game? He scored at a high clip, and with great efficiency. He took care of the ball. His defense was strong. His energy was excellent.

Dubs fans miss Gary Payton II, and justifiably so. But don’t let that blind you into forgetting how good DiVincenzo is.

Grade: A

Jordan Poole

36 minutes, 26 points, 3 rebounds, 1 assist, 6 turnovers, 4 fouls, 7-for-22 shooting, 2-for-10 threes, 10-for-12 free throws, 47.7% TS, -1

Here’s a wild stat: Poole has missed more free throws this year than he did last year. He’s still pulling out magic tricks on offense when the Warriors are compromised on that end of the court, and despite the low efficiency, he had some of the biggest shots of the game. But he’s also continuing to struggle as a playmaker when more of the offensive load is on his shoulders.

One assist to six turnovers is pretty rough. And yet I don’t think the Warriors would have had any chance in this game without JP.

Grade: C+

Post-game bonus: Led the team in points.

Jonathan Kuminga

21 minutes, 9 points, 5 rebounds, 3 assists, 1 steal, 2 turnovers, 6 fouls, 3-for-9 shooting, 0-for-1 threes, 3-for-5 free throws, 40.2% TS, +1

Kuminga had some clear issues in this game, most notably fouling out in just 21 minutes (the efficiency was poor too). Yet I left the game feeling a renewed belief in his defensive potential.

Not a great game for him, but definitely one where he showed off how good he can be.

Grade: C+

Patrick Baldwin Jr.

13 minutes, 11 points, 3 rebounds, 1 steal, 1 turnover, 1 foul, 4-for-7 shooting, 3-for-5 threes, 78.6% TS, +13

Is Baldwin going to be in the rotation once the Warriors are healthy? Highly unlikely. But his standout performance in this game showed why the Warriors are high on him, and why he might surpass Moses Moody on the depth chart at some point: he makes things happen.

He was aggressive, but smart, and looked for his shot in a productive way. Far and away the best performance of his career, and hopefully a glimpse of what’s to come.

Grade: A+

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

James Wiseman

7 minutes, 4 points, 4 rebounds, 1 foul, 2-for-4 shooting, 50.0% TS, -2

Wiseman didn’t get the opportunity in this one that he got on Christmas, or on Tuesday against the Charlotte Hornets. Still, his defense, screen-setting, and overall presence on the court are night and day better than they were at the start of the season.

Grade: B

Ty Jerome

30 minutes, 17 points, 7 rebounds, 2 assists, 1 steal, 5 fouls, 7-for-14 shooting, 2-for-7 threes, 1-for-1 free throws, 58.9% TS, +7

I was pretty harsh on Jerome at camp and the start of the season, but he’s really starting to come around. Suddenly it’s hard to see the Warriors not guaranteeing his contract.

Jerome was such a spark plug in this game, with energy and timely shot-making. He kept the offense humming, did the little things, and was absolutely integral to the win.

Grade: A

Moses Moody

13 minutes, 4 points, 1 assist, 1 steal, 2 fouls, 1-for-2 shooting, 1-for-2 threes, 1-for-2 free throws, 69.4% TS, -3

As I mentioned with Baldwin, the Warriors might turn to their rookie wing over their second-year player at some point, due to Moody’s passivity. He’s not bad, but he’s not really finding ways to make a lasting impact, either.

Grade: B-

Wednesday’s DNPs: Ryan Rollins

Wednesday’s inactives: Steph Curry, JaMychal Green, Andre Iguodala, Klay Thompson, Andrew Wiggins