Player grades: Warriors vs. Pelicans

Assessing every Golden State player’s performance from the team’s 124-106 win over New Orleans.

The Golden State Warriors had arguably their most impressive win of the young NBA season on Tuesday night, knocking off the visiting New Orleans Pelicans. Despite the absences of superstar Steph Curry, starter Andrew Wiggins, and key veteran De’Anthony Melton, and despite losing the first quarter 31-14, the Warriors put on a show to earn their first home win of the year and improve to 3-1.

Behind a spectacular showing of defense and threes, the Warriors won each of the final three quarters by double digits, en route to an emphatic 124-106 win. There’s no time to celebrate, though, as they’re back in the lab to face the very same Pelicans team in the very same arena at the very same time.

Until then, all we can do is grade the performances. 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. Last year, league-average TS was 58.0%.

Draymond Green

29 minutes, 3 points, 3 rebounds, 7 assists, 1 steal, 2 blocks, 4 fouls, 1-for-4 shooting, 1-for-3 threes, 37.5% TS, +15

It was clear that if the Warriors were going to win without Curry, it would have to include a strong defensive performance. And even though the Dubs got kicked in the mouth in the first frame, Green still set the tone defensively by making life hard on Pelicans star Zion Williamson.

Williamson had a decent game — he finished with an efficient 31 points, but turned the ball over eight times — but I thought Green played him magnificently. The shots he did make against Draymond were incredibly difficult attempts; as they say, great offense beats great defense.

It was also Dray’s best playmaking game, with seven dimes against no turnovers. Setting up his teammates was vital with Curry out, but keeping the Warriors from getting sloppy and turning the ball over was arguably even more important.

Grade: B+
Post-game bonus: Led the team in assists.

Trayce Jackson-Davis

17 minutes, 3 points, 2 rebounds, 5 assists, 1 block, 1 turnover, 1-for-1 shooting, 1-for-2 free throws, 79.8% TS, +6

TJD showed off how quickly he’s learned the system, and how intuitive of a player he is, with some amazing playmaking in this game. The five assists in just 17 minutes pretty accurately reflect how smart he was with the ball.

That said, he wasn’t much of a factor scoring, and he got bullied a bit in the paint, both on defense and on the glass. The Dubs got outrebounded 44-35, and he played a part in that.

Grade: B-

Buddy Hield

29 minutes, 28 points, 1 rebound, 1 assist, 2 steals, 3 fouls, 9-for-18 shooting, 7-for-11 threes, 3-for-3 free throws, 72.5% TS, +9

After a one-and-a-half game hiatus, the Hield who starred in the first two games of the year showed up with a vengeance. With the Warriors losing so much spacing with Curry and Wiggins out, Steve Kerr inserted Hield into the starting lineup, and it initially did not go well at all. He forced some shots, and missed others that we’ve grown accustomed to, and at halftime had a lowly three points on 1-for-8 shooting.

When the second half began, Hield was no longer in the starting five, as Kerr had turned to the hot hand. But that didn’t keep him from being the star of the half, as he erupted for 25 points on 8-for-10 shooting, with 19 of those points coming in the fourth quarter, where the Warriors pulled away from the Pelicans.

On the TNT broadcast, Hall of Famer Reggie Miller said that he had a halftime talk with Hield, though he didn’t divulge what was said. Maybe the Warriors can find out what it was though, so they can recreate it.

While Hield didn’t fill up the rest of the stat sheet, he did play phenomenal defense, as part of a highly-active team effort. Keep it up, Buddy!

Grade: A
Post-game bonus: Led the team in points.

Moses Moody

17 minutes, 14 points, 2 rebounds, 1 assist, 1 block, 1 turnover, 2 fouls, 5-for-7 shooting, 4-for-5 threes, 100.0% TS, -7

Moody was also inserted into the starting lineup to give the Dubs some additional spacing with Curry and Wiggins out. And spacing he certainly provided, with a phenomenal performance shooting the ball.

Other than the shooting, Moody had some tough luck. He drew the initial assignment on All-Star Brandon Ingram, and I thought he played Ingram decently … but Ingram still reached deep into his bag of tricks and pulled out all the stops for a dynamic offensive first quarter.

Moody’s role fluctuates game-to-game, but his performance is just so steady. He’s a coach’s dream, even if people are frustrated with how Kerr deploys him.

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

Brandin Podziemski

34 minutes, 19 points, 3 rebounds, 5 assists, 1 steal, 2 blocks, 2 fouls, 8-for-18 shooting, 3-for-8 threes, 52.8% TS, +17

Like Moody and Hield, Podziemski got his first start of the season. And, like those two, he showed off and showed out. Podziemski brought the same energy to the starting unit that he’s brought from the bench this year, even in playing 34 minutes — a high for any Warriors player this year. He was highly active on defense, with countless deflections to go along with his counting stats, and he ran the offense well, without a single turnover.

The scoring efficiency is still not there, but he had a fair number of misses on bail-out shots in this game, where he was taking a tough shot with the shot clock running down. Right now, the thing he was supposed to do best when he got drafted (shoot) is arguably the weakest part of his game … and that’s a testament to how complete of a player he’s become.

Grade: A-

Jonathan Kuminga

28 minutes, 17 points, 3 rebounds, 3 assists, 2 steals, 1 block, 2 turnovers, 6-for-13 shooting, 1-for-3 threes, 4-for-4 free throws, 57.6% TS, +4

Kuminga got moved to the bench, with Kerr explaining after the game that it was only due to the lack of spacing, and wanting to break up the minutes of Kuminga, Green, and Jackson-Davis. Kerr said that he told Kuminga it was going to be a big game for him, just in a different role, and he wasn’t wrong. He may not have started, but he still played a season high in minutes, while clearly having his best game of the year.

He’s an absolute menace when he moves downhill. New Orleans had no answer for Kuminga when he attacked the basket, with or without the ball. And he played strong man defense on Ingram.

Kerr relied on Kuminga heavily … he was the first sub in at the seven-minute mark, and stayed on the court for the next 15 minutes of action. His athleticism gave NOLA fits.

Grade: B+

Kevon Looney

20 minutes, 4 points, 9 rebounds, 2 assists, 2 steals, 1 block, 1 turnover, 4 fouls, 2-for-5 shooting, 40.0% TS, +11

I’ve really enjoyed watching Looney transition into this new role the last two years. He’s gone from the slow and steady center who anchors the starting lineup to the spark plug who brings relentless energy and effort from the bench.

That shows up so much on the glass, where Looney now has 36 rebounds in just 68 minutes … with 20 of those being offensive rebounds. He is just relentless, and seems to both jump start his teammates, and frustrate his opponents.

Grade: B
Post-game bonus: Tied for the team lead in rebounds.

Lindy Waters III

31 minutes, 21 points, 9 rebounds, 4 assists, 1 steal, 1 block, 3 fouls, 8-for-13 shooting, 3-for-7 threes, 2-for-2 free throws, 75.6% TS, +26

And now, your star of the game. Who could have guessed, when Kerr announced before the season opener that Waters would be out of the rotation to begin the year, that he would be one of the first two players on the team to crack 30 minutes in a game? Or that, at any point in the season, his highest scoring game would be higher than Curry’s?

It’s been clear that Waters deserves to be in the rotation, but that there’s just no way to have a 13-man rotation. So with three key players injured, it was clear that Waters would get the opportunity … one he’ll repeatedly get as various players pile up the absences.

And he showed why the Warriors are so thrilled to have him as part of their depth. He entered in the first quarter for his first meaningful minutes of the year, and instantly made such an impact that he replaced Hield in the starting lineup for the second half.

He was electric from beyond the arc, relentlessly attacked the basket, was a beast on the glass, and played exceptional defense.

Waters was the best player on the court. Go freaking figure.

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

Gui Santos

2 minutes, 0 points, 1 assist, 1 turnover, -3

While Waters was able to get in the rotation due to injuries, Santos was not, which isn’t too surprising. He’s still got work to do to get in the rotation, even in games like this one, but it’s great seeing the team win comfortably enough to get him minutes.

Grade: Incomplete

Kyle Anderson

20 minutes, 1 point, 2 rebounds, 4 assists, 4 steals, 1 foul, 0-for-9 shooting, 0-for-6 threes, 1-for-2 free throws, 5.1% TS, +9

That re-worked jump shot that we heard about in the preseason has, unfortunately, not yet arrived in Anderson’s locker. He’s now 4-for-18 from the field, and 1-for-11 from three-point range.

But other than that, this was such a Slo Mo game. He made smart pass after smart pass, and was an absolute pest on defense, racking up a steal every five minutes, with just one foul. He’s just such a heady veteran to have on the team, even though his value is capped when he’s not shooting well.

Grade: C

Gary Payton II

8 minutes, 7 points, 1 rebound, 1 block, 1 turnover, 3-for-5 shooting, 1-for-2 threes, 70.0% TS, -3

It doesn’t matter how many minutes he plays, GPII seems to always impact the game. He didn’t have any of the team’s 14 steals, but it sure felt like he created a whole bunch of turnovers. Thoughts and prayers for NOLA’s ball-handlers.

Grade: B+

Reece Beekman

2 minutes, 0 points, 1 assist, 1 steal, 1 foul, -3

Beekman, an undrafted player on a two-way contract, was active for the first time in his career, and got to make his NBA debut. It might have just been two minutes of garbage time, in which he didn’t get a shot off, but it’s the culmination of a lifetime of hard work paying off. Always love to see debuts. Congrats, Reece!

Grade: A+

Pat Spencer

3 minutes, 4 points, 2-for-3 shooting, 66.7% TS, 0 +/-

Spencer also was active for the first time this year, and made his season debut. He does some interesting things, so don’t be surprised if he ends up with a bigger role at some point this year.

Grade: Incomplete

Tuesday’s inactives: Steph Curry, De’Anthony Melton, Quinten Post, Andrew Wiggins