Player grades: Warriors vs. Celtics

I put off writing this article for a while, for one very simple reason: I didn’t want to. The Golden State Warriors lost to the Boston Celtics 110-88 on Wednesday, in a game that was not fun, not inspiring, and featured a Steph Curry injury.

In other words, [redacted] that game.

But we must talk about it a little more, so let’s break out the red pen and grade the players, weighting for our expectations of each. I promise I’ll make this brief.

Note: League average true-shooting percentage (TS) was 56.3% entering Thursday’s games.

Otto Porter Jr.

25 minutes, 5 points, 3 rebounds, 1 assist, 2 steals, 1 block, 1 foul, 2-for-10 shooting, 1-for-6 threes, 25.0% TS, -20

The Warriors shot just 37.2% from the field and 22.9% from the three-point line on Thursday, so it shouldn’t be surprising that a lot of their players had very poor shooting nights. Porter was emphatically one of those players, as he just couldn’t seem to get the ball to go in the hoop.

His defense was pretty solid for much of the game, so that’s cool.

Grade: C+

Kevon Looney

27 minutes, 9 points, 8 rebounds, 4 assists, 1 steal, 2 blocks, 1 turnover, 5 fouls, 4-for-6 shooting, 1-for-1 free throws, 69.9% TS, -10

I hate when Steph Curry is unable to play, but I do find it enjoyable when Looney plays without Curry and still scores efficiently and effectively. He’s gotten so much better. He was one of the few Warriors who had a good game, as he made an impact in every phase with good defense, scoring, rebounding, and passing.

Grade: B+

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

Steph Curry

14 minutes, 3 points, 1 rebound, 2 assists, 4 turnovers, 2 fouls, 1-for-4 shooting, 1-for-4 threes, 37.5% TS, -5

Curry didn’t shoot well and turned the ball over a ton, but none of that matters. He’s out indefinitely with a strained foot, and that’s the story of the game.

Grade: :(

Klay Thompson

33 minutes, 18 points, 3 rebounds, 1 assist, 1 turnover, 1 foul, 8-for-24 shooting, 1-for-11 threes, 1-for-2 free throws, 36.2% TS, -30

Just a bad game all around for Klay, who couldn’t buy a bucket, but kept trying to. He was definitely forcing the issue a bit in this game, and his defense wasn’t very good, either.

Grade: C-

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

Jordan Poole

34 minutes, 29 points, 2 rebounds, 3 assists, 2 steals, 1 block, 4 fouls, 10-for-20 shooting, 6-for-13 threes, 3-for-4 free throws, 66.6% TS, -20

The Warriors had a chance to get back in this game, and it was almost entirely because of Poole. After the team scored just 32 points in the first half, they had 37 in the third quarter alone — led by 19 from the third-year guard.

He’s scored 20 or more points in eight straight games, and has shot 57.9% from the field — and 53.0% from three-point range — during that span. He’s scoring in every which way, and the Warriors absolutely need it.

Grade: A

Post-game bonus: Led the team in points.

Draymond Green

22 minutes, 2 points, 8 rebounds, 3 assists, 2 steals, 1 turnover, 2 fouls, 0-for-2 shooting, 0-for-2 threes, 2-for-2 free throws, 34.7% TS, -15

Not Dray’s best game, but it was just his second appearance after missing two and a half months with injury. So it was mostly just good to see him out on the court, even if it wasn’t a great performance.

Grade: C+

Post-game bonus: Tied for the lead in rebounds.

Jonathan Kuminga

22 minutes, 5 points, 1 rebound, 1 assist, 1 foul, 1-for-6 shooting, 0-for-3 threes, 3-for-4 free throws, 32.2% TS, -2

The least impactful — and least efficient — game that Kuminga has had in a long while. Credit him for limiting the bad mistakes — sloppy turnovers and fouls — in a game where he was frustrated. But that was about all he did well, as he simply didn’t leave his mark on the game at all.

Grade: C

Juan Toscano-Anderson

14 minutes, 7 points, 1 rebound, 2 assists, 1 steal, 2 fouls, 3-for-4 shooting, 1-for-2 threes, 87.5% TS, -10

With Nemanja Bjelica out, JTA got some serious run for the first time in a while, and played nicely. He scored efficiently, played some good defense, and got the ball moving. He definitely needs to be rebounding a bit more though.

Grade: B

Damion Lee

17 minutes, 2 points, 5 rebounds, 1 turnover, 0-for-5 shooting, 0-for-5 threes, 2-for-2 free throws, 17.0% TS, +9

Lee may not have made a shot all night long, but he was the only Warrior to finish with a positive plus/minus, so he was doing something right ... even if that “something” was just being on the floor at the right time.

Grade: C+

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

Quinndary Weatherspoon

15 minutes, 3 points, 5 rebounds, 1 assist, 2 fouls, 1-for-3 shooting, 0-for-1 threes, 1-for-1 free throws, 43.6% TS, -2

With all due respect to Weatherspoon, the thing the Warriors are looking for from him is a practice body who knows the system, and someone who can eat minutes in a blowout win or loss.

Mission accomplished.

Grade: B

Moses Moody

9 minutes, 3 points, 1 rebound, 1 foul, 1-for-1 shooting, 1-for-1 threes, 150.0% TS, -2

Moody didn’t get to play much in this game, but looked just fine when he was out there. And when you make your only shot, that’s never a bad thing.

Grade: B

Chris Chiozza

7 minutes, 2 points, 1 assist, 1-for-1 shooting, 100.0% TS, -3

Everything I said about Weatherspoon applies here, too.

Grade: B

Thursday’s DNPs: Nemanja Bjelica, Andre Iguodala, Gary Payton II, Andrew Wiggins, James Wiseman