Player grades: Warriors vs. Wizards

The Golden State Warriors did something special on Monday: they won a second game on a road trip for the first time this season. After beating the Washington Wizards 127-118 on Martin Luther King Jr. Day, the Dubs improved to 2-1 on their five-game road trip, and they’ll waltz into the White House on a high note.

Then it will get a lot harder, with a Thursday/Friday doubleheader against the Boston Celtics and Cleveland Cavaliers, but that’s a concern for later in the week. For now we celebrate the win, and we grade the players involved in it. Grades are weighted based on my expectations of each player, with a “B” grade representing the average performance for a player.

Note: True-shooting percentage (TS) is a measure of shooting efficiency that accounts for threes and free throws. League average entering Monday’s games was 57.8%.

Draymond Green

35 minutes, 17 points, 6 rebounds, 10 assists, 3 steals, 2 turnovers, 3 fouls, 5-for-7 shooting, 2-for-3 threes, 5-for-6 free throws, 88.2% TS, -4

This game had pretty much everything that you could possibly want from Draymond. He anchored a defense that showed more grit than it has most of the year when on the road, and put on a clinic with the passes. Then, in the fourth quarter, a fan got into it with him, apparently trolling Green about his Hall of Fame status.

Let me remind you of two things:

1) Draymond Green is unequivocally a Hall of Famer.

2) Trash talking him is never a smart idea.

He responded with 11 fourth-quarter points, and completely dominated the frame. A mediocre first half is the only thing keeping him from a perfect grade.

Grade: A

Post-game bonus: Led the team in assists.

Kevon Looney

27 minutes, 2 points, 9 rebounds, 3 assists, 1 steal, 1 turnover, 4 fouls, 1-for-3 shooting, 33.7% TS, -2

Not a bad game for Looney, but not a particularly good one either. He made his mark in the first quarter, when he had a whopping four offensive rebounds to help the offense find its rhythm. Then he kind of disappeared.

Grade: B-

Post-game bonus: Led the team in rebounds.

Andrew Wiggins

32 minutes, 14 points, 3 rebounds, 4 assists, 1 turnover, 4 fouls, 6-for-15 shooting, 1-for-6 threes, 1-for-1 free throws, 45.3% TS, -12

Wiggins’ offense has really struggled since returning to the lineup. Is it rust after missing 15 straight games? Is it weakness after being sick for two weeks? Is it a mechanical issue after suffering an injury?

Who knows. But he’s shot just 22-for-61 (36.1%) from the field, and 5-for-26 (19.2%) on threes in his four games back.

He had some really strong defensive possessions, though.

Grade: C+

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

Steph Curry

38 minutes, 41 points, 7 rebounds, 2 assists, 4 turnovers, 1 foul, 12-for-28 shooting, 6-for-15 threes, 11-for-12 free throws, 61.6% TS, +14

I think it’s safe to say that Curry was pretty angry after his eight-turnover performance in the team’s fart of a loss on Sunday. He came out with a vengeance in this one, dropping in 17 points in the first quarter alone. He then chilled out for a while, and turned on the afterburners in the fourth quarter to help the Warriors pull away in the final moments.

He showed off the full bag in this one, and the assist numbers don’t do justice to his passing.

Grade: A

Post-game bonus: Led the team in scoring.

Jordan Poole

37 minutes, 32 points, 7 rebounds, 3 assists, 2 steals, 1 block, 4 turnovers, 3 fouls, 12-for-20 shooting, 7-for-13 threes, 1-for-1 free throws, 78.3% TS, -2

I don’t need to say anything about JP because his game did the talking for him. While Curry dominated the opening quarter and Green the closing one, Poole dominated the second quarter, en route to 26 first-half points.

All I’ll say is this: when Poole is in his bag, there are few players in the league more fun to watch score the basketball.

Grade: A

Anthony Lamb

25 minutes, 10 points, 5 rebounds, 1 assist, 2 fouls, 4-for-5 shooting, 2-for-2 threes, 100.0% TS, +36

With a starter (and perhaps the team’s hottest player at the moment) in Klay Thompson out, as well as three relied-upon bench players — Jonathan Kuminga, Andre Iguodala, and JaMychal Green — the Warriors needed someone on the bench to step up and have a dynamic performance.

That someone was Anthony Lamb.

Grade: A+

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

Donte DiVincenzo

27 minutes, 11 points, 5 rebounds, 3 assists, 3 fouls, 5-for-9 shooting, 0-for-4 threes, 1-for-1 free throws, 58.3% TS, +15

DiVincenzo has quickly turned into one of the most consistent players on the team. You know what you’ll get with him every night: the type of energy that jump-starts a bench unit, athleticism on the glass, tenacity on defense, a few stellar passes, and some scoring.

What a weapon he’s become. One of the best signings in the league this offseason.

Grade: B+

Ty Jerome

14 minutes, 0 points, 1 rebound, 2 assists, 2 steals, 2 fouls, 0-for-3 shooting, 0.0% TS, +2

I thought Jerome played a lot better than the stats would indicate. He doesn’t have much of a role on the team when Curry, Poole, and DiVincenzo are healthy, but the minutes he played in this one were quite strong. He made a lot of plays.

Grade: B+

Moses Moody

5 minutes, 0 points, 1 foul, 0-for-1 shooting, 0-for-1 threes, 0.0% TS, -2

Good aggression but I would have loved to have seen him get more minutes.

Grade: B

Monday’s DNPs: Patrick Baldwin Jr.

Monday’s inactives: JaMychal Green, Andre Iguodala, Jonathan Kuminga, Ryan Rollins, Klay Thompson, James Wiseman