Player grades: Warriors vs. Blazers

Well, that game happened. In a vacuum, the Golden State Warriors losing on the road by just three points to the Portland Trail Blazers, despite Steph Curry’s absence, wasn’t a bad thing. In reality, the Dubs once again blew a late lead, giving up an 11-0 run in the final minutes to allow the Blazers to steal a win.

In other words, it was an often impressive performance that feels wholly unsatisfying, and the grades will reflect both of those things. As always, grades are weighted based on expectations for each player, with a “B” grade representing the average performance for that person.

Note: True-shooting percentage (TS) is a scoring efficiency metric that accounts for threes and free throws. League average TS is 57.9%.

Draymond Green

35 minutes, 4 points, 6 rebounds, 7 assists, 1 block, 4 turnovers, 3 fouls, 2-for-7 shooting, 0-for-1 threes, 28.6% TS, +4

Dray had some moments of absolute defensive brilliance in this game. If the Warriors. want to continue their improved play on the road (the close losses have been frustrating, but make no mistake, the road play is improved), then Dray’s defense will be at the center of it. He also did a great job quarterbacking an offense that needs extra playmaking with Curry out.

He scored very inefficiently, and had a few awful mistakes in the final moments.

Grade: B-

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

Kevon Looney

14 minutes, 5 points, 5 rebounds, 1 turnover, 4 fouls, 2-for-2 shooting, 1-for-2 free throws, 86.8% TS, -4

The biggest difference between the two team’s on Wednesday was that the Blazers shot 32 free throws to the Warriors 10. Some will blame the refs. Don’t be one of those people. The Blazers attacked the rim relentlessly, and the Warriors did not. The Warriors fouled, and the Blazers did not.

Simple as that.

Anyway, Looney was one of the biggest culprits, as foul trouble limited him to just 14 minutes in this one.

Grade: C-

Andrew Wiggins

37 minutes, 18 points, 10 rebounds, 4 assists, 4 steals, 5 fouls, 7-for-14 shooting, 2-for-3 threes, 2-for-2 free throws, 60.5% TS, -2

Wiggins had the unenviable task of being the primary defensive assignment on Damian Lillard. Dame absolutely feasted, but I thought Wiggins played pretty strong defense. Chalk this one up to good offense beating good defense.

The 10 rebounds were crucial given Looney’s inability to stay on the court. He’s been all of the place on the glass lately. He had 10 rebounds tonight, and 10 against the Denver Nuggets last week. In the two games between, he had a combined three boards.

Unfortunately the thing most people will remember Wiggins for in this game was the very poor decision to kick the ball out rather than take a layup after the Dubs forced a steal, down four, with about 20 seconds left. Which is a bummer because it was a really good game from Wiggs, who had his first game scoring above league average efficiency since December 3.

Grade: A-

Post-game bonus: Led the team in rebounds.

Klay Thompson

38 minutes, 31 points, 3 rebounds, 6 assists, 2 steals, 1 turnover, 3 fouls, 12-for-28 shooting, 7-for-19 threes, 55.4% TS, -6

Not the most efficient game for Klay, but that’s going to happen with Curry out. It was still a good enough offensive performance to make him a weapon, and the six assists to one turnover was great to see.

I thought he played really good defense on Anfernee Simons.

Grade: B+

Jordan Poole

35 minutes, 38 points, 1 rebound, 7 assists, 2 turnovers, 2 fouls, 13-for-25 shooting, 7-for-12 threes, 5-for-5 free throws, 69.9% TS, 0 plus/minus

When the Warriors offense dried up in the final minutes, Poole had a few ill-advised shots. He forced the issue a bit. Hopefully that’s not what people remember from this game, because his offensive brilliance as a scorer and distributor — not to mention his improved defense — was the primary reason Golden State had any chance of winning this basketball game.

Grade: A

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

Jonathan Kuminga

22 minutes, 2 points, 1 rebound, 1 assist, 1 block, 1 turnover, 2 fouls, 1-for-4 shooting, 0-for-2 threes, 25.0% TS, -12

Kuminga played like he woke up on the wrong side of the basketball bed this morning. His decision making was solid. His energy was great. He just didn’t have it. He routinely fumbled the ball, looked uncomfortable dribbling and shooting, and just didn’t look as coordinated as usual.

We all have those days. The other day I knocked over two glasses of water, hit my elbow on the ledge, and almost fell over trying to put on my socks. It happens.

Grade: C-

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

JaMychal Green

11 minutes, 2 points, 1 rebound, 1 steal, 2 fouls, 1-for-2 shooting, 0-for-1 threes, 50.0% TS, +3

Kind of just a nothing game from JMG. Didn’t really do anything good, didn’t really do anything bad.

Grade: C

Donte DiVincenzo

30 minutes, 18 points, 2 rebounds, 2 assists, 3 steals, 2 turnovers, 6-for-12 shooting, 5-for-10 threes, 1-for-1 free throws, 72.4% TS, -4

DiVincenzo is really, really good, and the Warriors are significantly better thanks to him being on their team.

That’s kind of all I have to say. Oh, and he’s now 32-for-62 from three-point range in his last 11 games. Stay hot, DDV.

Also, more of this, please:

Grade: A

Ty Jerome

18 minutes, 4 points, 3 rebounds, 4 assists, 1 steal, 3 fouls, 2-for-3 shooting, 0-for-1 threes, 66.7% TS, +6

Jerome sure has turned into a vital piece when Curry is out, hasn’t he? I’m very happy to admit that I was extremely wrong about him. He’s been huge for the Dubs, and the fact that he still has a lot of two-way eligibility will be massive as the Warriors wait for Curry to heal up.

Grade: A-

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

Wednesday’s DNPs: Moses Moody, James Wiseman

Wednesday’s inactives: Patrick Baldwin Jr., Steph Curry, Andre Iguodala, Anthony Lamb, Ryan Rollins