Player grades: Warriors vs. Grizzlies

Assessing every Golden State player’s performance in the team’s 134-125 win over Memphis.

Tuesday night was one of the most exciting and dramatic wins of the season for the Golden State Warriors … and certainly their most meaningful. They beat the Memphis Grizzlies 134-125 in something of an all-or-nothing game: the win moved the Warriors up from the sixth seed to the fifth seed, while a loss would have dropped them into the play-in tournament seeds.

So let’s judge the players. As always, grades are based on my expectations for each player, with a “B” grade representing the average performance for that player.

Note: True-shooting percentage (TS) is a scoring efficiency metric that accounts for threes and free throws. Entering Tuesday night, league-average TS was 57.6%.

Moses Moody

36 minutes, 10 points, 4 rebounds, 1 assist, 1 block, 2 turnovers, 4 fouls, 4-for-8 shooting, 2-for-5 threes, 62.5% TS, +4

Something I was thinking about a lot this game: we probably don’t talk enough about how the Warriors trading Andrew Wiggins was a gigantic show of trust in Moody’s defensive abilities. Even though he’s the small forward (or arguably even the power forward) in the starting five, he gets tasked with defending the best perimeter scorer on the opposing team, night-in and night-out.

Maybe tonight isn’t the night to bring that up, as Ja Morant had an extremely-efficient 36 points, but he also turned the ball over six times and scored primarily by making difficult shots, rather than getting easy ones. Moody made life difficult for Ja — even if he got into some foul trouble — and had one of the biggest shots of the night, a game-clinching three with about 40 seconds remaining.

Grade: B+

Jimmy Butler III

38 minutes, 27 points, 6 rebounds, 4 assists, 3 steals, 2 turnovers, 1 foul, 7-for-11 shooting, 1-for-2 threes, 12-for-12 free throws, 82.9% TS, +6

Kind of just an absurd game for Jimmy, and one that highlighted why the Warriors acquired him. He scored so efficiently, and did the bulk of his work when Curry was on the bench. He took turns defending seemingly every Grizzlies player. He rolled his ankle in the third quarter and still led all players with 38 minutes of action. He sought out contact to draw Jaren Jackson Jr.’s sixth foul. He played with confidence that inspired his teammates when the Warriors saw their lead shrink, and then disappear. He played with cockiness that taunted his opponent when the game was on the line.

This was the Butler who was the best player on two teams that recently made the NBA Finals. Now he gets to be the second-best player.

Isn’t that interesting…

Grade: A+

Draymond Green

33 minutes, 13 points, 10 rebounds, 12 assists, 2 steals, 1 block, 3 turnovers, 4 fouls, 4-for-12 shooting, 1-for-7 threes, 4-for-4 free throws, 47.2% TS, +13

This was a little bit of a throwback to the dynastic Warriors. Draymond notched a triple-double and you might not have even noticed because of the theatrics of his two fellow Hall of Fame-bound teammates.

But he was everywhere, and this was one of the best games he’s had all year in terms of the way he moved the ball. It was some serious point guard control of the system and setup of his teammates.

It wasn’t a flawless game. He didn’t have his best defensive performance against a much larger team, though he was still quite good on that end. Memphis dared him to shoot threes all night, and he obliged with poor results; I don’t fault him for continuing to shoot, since A) it was clearly the game plan and B) he’s been having a decent season shooting, but he obviously is the only one to blame for the poor percentage. He got into a little bit of foul trouble and had a few careless passes.

But a very, very strong game.

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

Brandin Podziemski

28 minutes, 8 points, 5 rebounds, 1 assist, 3 fouls, 4-for-11 shooting, 0-for-4 threes, 36.4% TS, -2

It wasn’t Podziemski’s best game, but he did have arguably the most critical bucket of the night. With just over a minute remaining, and the Warriors clinging to a three-point lead, Steph Curry missed a three. It looked to be a clear rebound for Memphis, but Podziemski soared in over Morant, and tapped it home to give the Dubs a five-point lead and all the momentum. It was a winning play, and nothing defines Podz quite like the regularity with which he makes winning plays.

Overall he didn’t have a very good game, but there’s comfort in knowing that he’ll usually make the right play at the critical moment, no matter what kind of game he’s having.

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

Steph Curry

37 minutes, 52 points, 10 rebounds, 8 assists, 5 steals, 1 block, 2 turnovers, 2 fouls, 16-for-31 shooting, 12-for-20 threes, 8-for-8 free throws, 75.3% TS, +17

What’s there to say? No, really: what’s there to say? What more is there to say?

I feel like I just have to roll out this clip every time Curry does something magical these days.

This wasn’t a star, or a superstar performance. It was a superduperstar performance. It was one of the best players in the world knowing that the team needed a win, knowing that the environment was hostile, knowing that the star point guard opposing him was going to bring his A-game. It was a message to the rest of the league that there’s no better advantage in the playoffs than to have the best player in the series, and Curry can still be the best player in any series.

Absurd shots. Incredible swagger. Emphatic rebounds. Brilliant passes. Clutch defense.

An all-time great game from an all-time great player.

Grade: A+++
Post-game bonus: Led the team in points, tied for the team lead in rebounds, best plus/minus on the team.

Buddy Hield

20 minutes, 8 points, 3 rebounds, 1 steal, 1 turnover, 1 foul, 2-for-7 shooting, 2-for-7 threes, 2-for-2 free throws, 50.8% TS, +6

Not a great game for Hield, and that is a little more noticeable when Jonathan Kuminga is sidelined, so the team doesn’t have a big offensive burst off the bench.

He did a good job of not doing bad things, but simply didn’t do many good things … though he did have a very clutch shot in the third quarter.

Grade: C

Gui Santos

19 minutes, 4 points, 6 rebounds, 1 assist, 1 turnover, 4 fouls, 1-for-5 shooting, 0-for-1 threes, 2-for-2 free throws, 34.0% TS, +3

An extremely active game for Santos. He was flying all over the court, often for good (six rebounds in 19 minutes!) and sometimes for bad (four fouls in 19 minutes!). His play at the end of the third quarter, when Curry was on the bench, was vital, as he kept countless possessions alive and his defense helped force turnovers. Still, hard to give a good grade when you foul that frequently and struggle with your shot.

Grade: C+

Quinten Post

20 minutes, 9 points, 1 rebound, 1 assist, 2 fouls, 3-for-10 shooting, 3-for-9 threes, 45.0% TS, -1

This wasn’t a very good Post game, but it certainly was a reminder that the Warriors really, really trust him. Even with Green the starting five in the new lineup, Post is going to get heavy minutes seemingly every night. He’s far from a finished product, but the Warriors players and coaches clearly trust him to make the right play and hold down the interior defense. It makes it so that even when he has struggles, as he did on Tuesday, he’s still not hurting the team much.

Grade: C

Kevon Looney

10 minutes, 3 points, 4 rebounds, 1 assist, 1 foul, 1-for-4 shooting, 1-for-1 threes, 37.5% TS, -1

After a four-year hiatus, Looney made a three for the second consecutive game. And if that doesn’t put a smile on your face, I don’t know what will.

Grade: B-

Tuesday’s DNP-CDs: Trayce Jackson-Davis, Kevin Knox II, Pat Spencer

Tuesday’s inactives: Taran Armstrong, Braxton Key, Jonathan Kuminga, Gary Payton II, Jackson Rowe