Player grades: Warriors vs. Kings

Assessing every Golden State player’s performance in the team’s 132-108 win over Sacramento.

Friday night may not have been the most impressive win of the season for the Golden State Warriors, but I’d argue that it was the most important. Golden State’s 132-108 shellacking of the Sacramento Kings set the tone for the second half of the season. It proved that the Warriors are a different team after adding Jimmy Butler III. It wrapped up a successful seven-game road trip. And it allowed the Dubs to jump over the Kings in the standings, and begin their two-month quest to climb the ranks of the Western Conference.

In short, it was a pretty good night. Thanks for asking.

So let’s grade the players who pulled off the statement win. 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 Friday’s games, league-average TS was 57.4%.

Moses Moody

29 minutes, 22 points, 2 rebounds, 4 assists, 1 block, 1 turnover, 2 fouls, 8-for-11 shooting, 5-for-8 threes, 1-for-1 free throws, 96.2% TS, +16

I’m not sure what Moody could have done better in this game. He brought the energy early, with 11 points between the first quarter and the first stretch of the second. That helped keep Golden State from the early deficit they’ve been so good at building up lately.

He played tremendous defense on Zach LaVine, who was held to just 13 points while committing five turnovers. And he shot the lights out.

Just fantastic basketball.

Grade: A+
Post-game bonus: Tied for the team lead in points.

Jimmy Butler III

32 minutes, 17 points, 3 rebounds, 7 assists, 3 steals, 5-for-10 shooting, 0-for-1 threes, 7-for-7 free throws, 65.0% TS, +19

Butler was fifth on the Warriors in scoring, and he seems to love that. It’s a pretty cool star who is happiest letting his teammates put up the gaudy stats, and then goes in and cleans up whenever necessary. It still feels like Butler carries the team when Steph Curry is on the bench, even when he’s not putting up big numbers (case in point: this was just the 14th time in Curry’s career that he hasn’t had a positive +/- and the Warriors have still won by double digits).

DeMar DeRozan had an absolutely brilliant game for the Kings, but it didn’t really feel like Butler’s fault. Great offense beats great defense, and DeRozan’s shots were very difficult (and he feasted when not guarded by Butler).

The fact that Butler went a full game without any turnovers or fouls (for the second game in a row!) is huge for a Warriors team that has been plagued by sloppiness and a lack of discipline this year.

Grade: A-

Draymond Green

28 minutes, 6 points, 8 rebounds, 9 assists, 2 blocks, 2 turnovers, 2 fouls, 3-for-7 shooting, 0-for-2 threes, 42.9% TS, +23

If one is wondering how serious Green was being when predicting that the Warriors will win a championship in June, one needs only to watch Green’s effort levels and performance. Draymond has admitted in the past that he has a hard time bringing his best when he doesn’t feel like the team can compete … and right now he is bringing it all.

It felt like whenever the Kings made a run, Green would make a highlight defensive play as if to remind them that they’re simply not good enough.

Grade: A
Post-game bonus: Led the team in rebounds and assists, best plus/minus on the team.

Brandin Podziemski

30 minutes, 21 points, 3 rebounds, 5 assists, 1 steal, 1 turnover, 2 fouls, 9-for-20 shooting, 2-for-9 threes, 1-for-1 free throws, 51.4% TS, +21

Podziemski fits so well in the starting lineup; it’s really hard to see the Warriors moving away from that. He felt like one of the best players on the court for the Warriors tonight, and the team certainly played like it. The only knock on his game was the middling efficiency, and even a lot of that came from having to fire up shots at the end of the shot clock.

Just a tremendous showing from Podz, who looks like a completely different player than before his injury.

Grade: A-

Steph Curry

31 minutes, 20 points, 1 rebound, 6 assists, 2 steals, 1 turnover, 7-for-13 shooting, 4-for-9 threes, 2-for-2 free throws, 72.0% TS, 0 +/-

Things you don’t often see: Curry finishing fourth on the team in scoring, and last on the team in plus/minus, and the Warriors winning by 24 points. But that’s not an indictment of Curry — it’s a show of how well his teammates played.

This is part of the hope with Butler’s addition: that Curry can shoulder less of a load. Steph already mentioned it last week, that the game feels easier and less stressful since Butler arrived. Sometimes we get too caught up in load management as the only way for a star to rest … simply reducing how much is on their shoulders is a pretty good way to do it, too.

Curry did exactly what the Warriors needed tonight, and thankfully it wasn’t a Herculean amount. He brought energy and star play in the opening minutes, quarterbacked the offense all night, and made clutch shots when they were needed. Awesome game.

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

Buddy Hield

26 minutes, 22 points, 3 rebounds, 2 assists, 1 steal, 3 fouls, 8-for-11 shooting, 5-for-8 threes, 1-for-1 free throws, 96.2% TS, +8

Here’s your weird stat of the day!

This game was an emphatic reminder that Hield, despite being fairly up-and-down, can still be a difference maker in any given game. His scoring was huge; his spacing was huge; his energy was huge; his speed was huge; his effort was huge.

He came off the bench to score 10 first-quarter points, and he never really slowed down after that. Hield was moving at 100% all night long, and he often brought defenders with him as he scurried around the court.

The Warriors are usually going to win when he plays like this.

Grade: A+
Post-game bonus: Tied for the team lead in points.

Gary Payton II

15 minutes, 4 points, 1 assist, 2 steals, 4 fouls, 2-for-2 shooting, 100.0% TS, +3

Payton’s calling card may be his defense, but I sure love watching his offense. The way he races to the rim in both the half court and transition is so much fun, and when the Warriors reward him for it, great things happen.

A strong all-around game, though Payton quickly counted up the fouls.

Grade: B+

Kevon Looney

14 minutes, 2 points, 5 rebounds, 1 assist, 2 steals, 2 turnovers, 1 foul, 1-for-5 shooting, 20.0% TS, +1

It wasn’t the cleanest or best game for Looney, who got engaged over the break (congrats!!!). But it is so nice knowing that the Warriors have that sort of interior presence when needed. Looney feels like a bouncer sometimes, just coming in to serve as an enforcer when the Warriors are getting too clumsy or too small.

Grade: C+

Gui Santos

13 minutes, 0 points, 3 rebounds, 3 assists, 1 steal, 1 turnover, 4 fouls, 0-for-3 shooting, 0-for-2 threes, 0.0% TS, +4

It’s hard to take your eyes off of Santos when he’s on the court. He flies around, doing everything. Anytime there’s a loose ball, he somehow ends up around it. It’s desperately-needed energy.

It resulted in a lot of good things in this game, though it was a bit overzealous at times as well, hence the four fouls.

Grade: B

Quinten Post

14 minutes, 9 points, 5 rebounds, 1 steal, 3 turnovers, 3-for-5 shooting, 3-for-3 threes, 90.0% TS, +19

Post revealed at halftime that his father was in attendance for one of his NBA games for the first time, which was pretty cool. And Post absolutely showed out in the second quarter, making all three of his attempts from beyond the arc while leading a huge Warriors run.

His shooting from the center position truly gives Golden State’s offense a new dimension, but he also knows how to play his size, as the five rebounds and interior defense showed. He got a little overexcited once he caught fire, but he was a difference maker in this game. For a rookie taken No. 52 overall … that’s damn impressive.

Grade: A-

Kevin Knox II

3 minutes, 5 points, 1 rebound, 2-for-3 shooting, 1-for-1 threes, 83.3% TS, +2

Knox finally made his Warriors debut, two years after we briefly thought the Warriors had acquired him in the James Wiseman trade, before learning that Knox was heading elsewhere, and Payton was returning to the Dubs.

It was the first NBA game of the season for the 2018 lottery pick, who has been grinding in the G League to get back in the show. What an awesome sight to see.

Grade: A+ for all the feels

Trayce Jackson-Davis

3 minutes, 4 points, 1 rebound, 1 turnover, 2-for-2 shooting, 100.0% TS, +2

Nice to see TJD get a little run after his exciting All-Star weekend. It was all in garbage time, though, as he’s out of the rotation at the moment.

Grade: Incomplete

Pat Spencer

3 minutes, 0 points, 2 assists, 1 foul, 0-for-1 shooting, 0.0% TS, +2

One thing you can bet on with Spencer: no matter how few minutes he gets, he will find a way to get an assist or two on the stat sheet.

Grade: Incomplete

Friday’s inactives: Yuri Collins, Jonathan Kuminga, Jackson Rowe