Player grades: Warriors vs. Rockets

Assessing every Golden State player’s performance in the team’s 99-93 win over Houston.

Well, that was much more fun. After five consecutive frustrating losses, the Golden State Warriors won their first game since November 22, beating the Houston Rockets 99-93 in a preview of next week’s NBA Cup quarterfinals. The Dubs were shorthanded, with neither Steph Curry nor Draymond Green available but, behind a spectacular defensive performance, they emerged with one of their best wins of the season, against an excellent Rockets team.

Now let’s grade the players who pulled off the upset. 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 Thursday’s games, league-average TS was 57.4%.

Jonathan Kuminga

33 minutes, 33 points, 6 rebounds, 2 assists, 1 block, 3 turnovers, 3 fouls, 13-for-22 shooting, 3-for-6 threes, 4-for-6 free throws, 67.0% TS, +7

Oh, hell yes. If that game didn’t put a big ol’ smile on your face, then you must not like Kuminga.

Easily his best game of the season, and I’d argue one of the best of his career. Kuminga showed off all his All-Star potential in this game, repeatedly breaking down Houston’s offense and flying to the rim with the perfect blend of aggression and finesse. 33 points on 67% true-shooting is extremely impressive under any circumstances, but given that Kuminga was playing without Curry’s gravity, without Green’s playmaking, and against the league’s second-best defense, it was nothing short of a superstar showing.

It was also timely. Kuminga seemed to have a huge bucket — or a big defensive stop — every time the Warriors needed one. He led the charge as they opened up a double-digit lead in the third quarter, and repeatedly saved the team in the fourth quarter when they were threatening to let the game away. He had a fastbreak layup that pushed the lead to six with just over a minute remaining and then, nursing a three-point lead with under 20 seconds remaining, beat the entire Houston defense for a game-sealing layup.

Phenomenal.

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

Kevon Looney

27 minutes, 4 points, 11 rebounds, 3 assists, 1 steal, 3 fouls, 2-for-7 shooting, 14.3% TS, +20

And just like that, Looney seems to have a huge role on the Warriors again. And he sure has been making himself indispensable. His defense was not good, but great, as he played the biggest role in holding soon-to-be-All-Star Alperen Şengün to an inefficient 16 points. And he played a huge role in the Warriors winning the rebounding battle 54-45.

Sure, he didn’t score efficiently, but he certainly didn’t hurt the offense either, especially with the three assists against no turnovers.

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

Andrew Wiggins

34 minutes, 23 points, 9 rebounds, 2 assists, 2 steals, 1 block, 3 turnovers, 2 fouls, 8-for-15 shooting, 3-for-4 threes, 4-for-7 free throws, 63.6% TS, +14

So many Warriors played fantastically in this game, but Kuminga and Wiggins were the stars. Wiggins had a dynamic offensive game and, like Kuminga, he had some timely buckets (including a four-point play at the end of the first half). He attacked the glass, made some huge plays on defense, and generally looked like a star.

I suppose you could pick nits with some of the turnovers and a few lapses, but with Curry and Green out, the Warriors ask Wiggins to do so much more than usual, on both ends of the court. And my goodness did he deliver. Which is only made more impressive with Steve Kerr’s reveal after the game that Wiggins’ ankle injury was severe enough that he wouldn’t have played if the Dubs weren’t so shorthanded.

Grade: A+

Buddy Hield

27 minutes, 5 points, 5 rebounds, 2 assists, 1 turnover, 1-for-8 shooting, 1-for-6 threes, 2-for-2 free throws, 28.2% TS, +18

Hield’s been quite cold lately. Over his last three games, he’s just 6-for-23 from the field. But unlike in some of his other cold games, Hield didn’t let it bleed into the rest of his game. I thought this was one of his better defensive gams of the year, and he helped run the offense quite well.

Still and all, it’s hard to overlook that shooting when that’s the first, second, and third thing that he’s on the floor to provide.

Grade: C

Brandin Podziemski

36 minutes, 8 points, 12 rebounds, 3 assists, 2 turnovers, 2-for-9 shooting, 1-for-3 threes, 3-for-4 free throws, 37.2% TS, +12

After Tuesday’s loss, Kerr pulled no punches in criticizing Podziemski. But he also made it clear that he believed Podziemski would improve.

And he did. Podz played under much more control on Thursday, running much of the offense and committing just two turnovers despite leading the team with 36 minutes. His defense was so good, and he led both teams in rebounding, easily surpassing the marks of Șengün and Jabari Smith Jr.

The scoring still has a lot of work to do, but as long as he’s not jacking up poor shots, the inefficiency isn’t getting in the way of his playmaking, defense, and rebounding.

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

Trayce Jackson-Davis

21 minutes, 6 points, 2 assists, 1 block, 1 foul, 3-for-4 shooting, 75.0% TS, -17

Jackson-Davis’ scoring has really been rounding into form lately, and it’s a delight to see. But there’s definitely a lot of work still to be done on defense, and he certainly can’t have games where he plays 21 minutes and doesn’t record a rebound.

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

Kyle Anderson

14 minutes, 8 points, 2 rebounds, 2 assists, 1 turnover, 3-for-5 shooting, 0-for-1 threes, 2-for-2 free throws, 68.0% TS, -1

It was a limited role, but Anderson certainly did a lot to fill in for Green. His defense was excellent, his playmaking was exactly what the Warriors needed, and he even had a strong scoring game. He’s not going to have it every night, but lately he’s been having it more nights than not.

Grade: A

Gary Payton II

18 minutes, 6 points, 6 rebounds, 1 assist, 1 steal, 5 fouls, 3-for-7 shooting, 0-for-3 threes, 42.9% TS, -14

Payton’s rebounds were absolutely massive in this game, though his fouls really hurt the team. But being able to play as good of defense as he plays is so important when Green is unable to play, and it seems that GPII always makes things happen at the rim.

Grade: C+

Moses Moody

23 minutes, 6 points, 1 rebound, 1 assist, 1 foul, 1-for-7 shooting, 1-for-5 threes, 3-for-6 free throws, 31.1% TS, -9

I loved Moody’s aggression in this game. He was mixing things up every time a rebound was up for grabs, and had some great drives, and it was a very good defensive game. Still and all, it’s hard to make too much of an impact with that poor of efficiency, and just one rebound in 23 minutes.

Grade: C

Pat Spencer

6 minutes, 0 points, 2 rebounds, 1 assist, 1 steal, 1 foul, 0-for-2 shooting, 0.0% TS, -2

Interestingly it was Spencer, not Lindy Waters III, who filled out the 10th rotation spot with the Dubs down three players. He didn’t get to play for very long, but certainly looked comfortable out there.

Grade: B

Thursday’s DNPs: Gui Santos, Lindy Waters III

Thursday’s inactives: Reece Beekman, Steph Curry, Draymond Green, De’Anthony Melton, Quinten Post