Player grades: Warriors vs. Heat

Assessing every Golden State player’s performance in the team’s 113-92 win over Miami.

The Golden State Warriors got a very much-needed victory on Tuesday night, marching into South Beach and demolishing a banged-up Miami Heat team, using a dominant second half to win 113-92. With how perilous their standing is in the West right now, it was an absolutely critical game for the Dubs to win.

So let’s grade the players who got it done. As always, grades are based on my expectations of 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’s games, league-average TS was 58.1%.

Draymond Green

28 minutes, 4 points, 9 rebounds, 8 assists, 2 steals, 1 turnover, 5 fouls, 2-for-5 shooting, 0-for-1 threes, 40.0% TS, +9

This was an absolute defensive masterclass by Draymond. Sure, the Heat were compromised, but it at times felt like Green was single-handedly keeping them from finding any offensive rhythm. He made life difficult for Bam Adebayo all night long, and conducted the Warriors defense — and often their offense — seamlessly.

He had too many fouls and didn’t provide much in the way of scoring. But a very solid night.

Grade: A-
Post-game bonus: Led the team in rebounds and assists.

Jonathan Kuminga

32 minutes, 18 points, 7 rebounds, 3 assists, 1 block, 1 turnover, 3 fouls, 8-for-13 shooting, 0-for-2 threes, 2-for-3 free throws, 62.8% TS, +21

The Warriors were without Trayce Jackson-Davis in this game, but Kuminga made sure that there was no absence playing above the rim. From lobs to put-back dunks, JK was simply playing at a different altitude than everyone else in the arena.

I mean, just look at these plays:

It’s such a vital element for the Warriors. And it was such a complete game for the star-in-the-making.

Grade: A

Andrew Wiggins

31 minutes, 17 points, 7 rebounds, 1 assist, 2 blocks, 1 turnover, 1 foul, 7-for-12 shooting, 1-for-5 threes, 2-for-2 free throws, 66.0% TS, +17

Let’s start with this: the Warriors will take 17 and 7 from Wiggins eight days a week. Eight days a week! It’s everything they want from Wiggs.

But more importantly: the Warriors will take Wiggins playing with urgency eight days a week. Maybe nine days a week.

Urgency is the best word to describe how Wiggins played on Tuesday. It’s how he defended, it’s how he rebounded, and it’s how he looked for buckets.

And what a difference it made.

Grade: A

Steph Curry

31 minutes, 17 points, 2 rebounds, 6 assists, 1 turnover, 1 foul, 7-for-15 shooting, 3-for-10 threes, 56.7% TS, +19

Just a calm, collected, and measured game from Curry. He was on cruise control while his teammates took over, and then when the moment was right, he’d jump in with a dagger. He played the old school point guard role in this one, directing the offense, divvying out shot opportunities, and taking care of the ball.

It wasn’t a superstar performance, but it was as solid as they come.

Grade: B

Klay Thompson

31 minutes, 28 points, 5 rebounds, 2 assists, 1 block, 1 turnover, 1 foul, 11-for-20 shooting, 6-for-14 threes, 70.0% TS, +25

Klay returned to the starting lineup in this game and didn’t miss a beat. He was the team’s top offensive option throughout the night, and played with extra doses of energy as he sprung free off screens for open looks.

He was highly efficient, though truthfully the numbers underscore his efficiency — it felt like a lot of his misses were forced shots at the end of the shot clock, or to get a two-for-one opportunity.

It was also a strong all-around game for Klay, who did more than just score the ball. When he and Wiggins play at this level, the Warriors are very hard to beat.

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

Kevon Looney

19 minutes, 7 points, 6 rebounds, 1 assist, 3 fouls, 3-for-5 shooting, 1-for-2 free throws, 59.5% TS, +7

Looney has been fully out of the rotation for a little while now, but with Jackson-Davis’ absence, Golden State had to turn towards their trusty veteran center. If there’s one thing Looney consistently does, it’s stay ready whenever the team calls on him. And that’s what he did. His defense and rebounding were absolutely critical in this game, especially in the second half.

Grade: A

Gui Santos

1 minute, 2 points, 1-for-1 shooting, 100.0% TS, +5

Always love Santos minutes. And always love positive garbage-time minutes.

Grade: Incomplete

Chris Paul

23 minutes, 0 points, 2 rebounds, 7 assists, 2 steals, 3 turnovers, 2 fouls, 0-for-2 shooting, 0-for-1 threes, 0.0% TS, +1

Paul had a really rough first half, as he was unable to get anything going on offense and had one of his worst bouts of turning the ball over that we’ve seen since he was traded to the Dubs. But for as bad as his first half was, his second half was good enough to negate it. He started setting everybody up, and running the offense like an All-Pro quarterback.

Hard to overlook the bad first half in the grades department, though.

Grade: C

Gary Payton II

13 minutes, 2 points, 1 steal, 1 block, 1 foul, 1-for-3 shooting, 33.3% TS, -3

Not a very noteworthy game for GPII. Not a bad one, per se, but just not a noteworthy one. His energy sure is critical when the team is slumping though, that’s for sure.

Grade: C+

Jerome Robinson

1 minute, 3 points, 1 foul, 1-for-1 shooting, 1-for-1 threes, 150.0% TS, +5

I love when people playing garbage time score points. It makes me happy.

Grade: Incomplete

Moses Moody

6 minutes, 9 points, 1 assist, 1 turnover, 1 foul, 3-for-3 shooting, 2-for-2 threes, 1-for-2 free throws, 116.0% TS, -3

Moody has been struggling with his shot a little bit lately, but not in this game! He was automatic. His minutes are still sparse, but he makes the most of them, and really found a way to impact this game in a short amount of time.

Grade: A

Lester Quiñones

1 minute, 0 points, +5

Again: positive garbage-time is a very welcome sight!

Grade: Incomplete

Brandin Podziemski

22 minutes, 6 points, 5 rebounds, 1 assist, 1 steal, 1 turnover, 1 foul, 3-for-5 shooting, 0-for-2 threes, 0-for-1 free throws, 55.1% TS, -4

Podziemski got moved back to the bench for this gam, and his results were mixed. His offense continues to be glued to the rookie wall, but the way he competes, gobbles up rebounds, and sets up his teammates is awesome to watch.

Is it too early to start predicting huge things for him in Year 2?

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

Tuesday’s DNP-CDs: Dario Šarić

Tuesday’s inactives: Usman Garuba, Trayce Jackson-Davis, Pat Spencer