Jonathan Kuminga, Klay Thompson graduated in Warriors vs. Pelicans

The script was similar to Friday night. The Golden State Warriors once again fell behind by double digits early, again erasing the deficit with dynamic two-way play. It wasn’t as dramatic as in their wins over the Portland Trail Blazers and Los Angeles Clippers, but Friday night’s 108-99 victory over the New Orleans Pelicans was at least memorable.

Remarkably, the Dubs swept a five-game homestand without a single game played by Steph Curry or Andrew Wiggins. (not to mention two absences by Draymond Green). They’re clicking on all cylinders right now (minus the first-quarter cylinders), and reinforcements are on the way: Curry is expected back on Sunday.

Now let’s grade the players who were in action on Friday night. As always, grades are weighted based on my expectations for each player, with a “B” grade representing average performance for some.

Note: True-shooting percentage (TS) is a shooting efficiency metric that takes threes and free throws into account. Going into Friday’s games, the average TS was 58.0%.

Draymond Green

24 minutes, 4 points, 5 rebounds, 1 assist, 1 block, 4 turnovers, 6 fouls, 2-for-4 shooting, 0-for-1 threes, 50.0% TS, +4

A rather rough game from Green. He had to sit on the bench for just a few minutes after getting into foul trouble, and was limited in the second half as well, before coming off in the final minute. He was a big part of the team’s defensive performance in the second half, as they held New Orleans to just 42 points, but other than that, he played very poorly.

The best thing you can say about his performance, aside from his second-half defense, is that he avoided picking up the technical foul that would have resulted in an automatic suspension … despite flirting with it all game.

Grade: D+

Kevon Looney

24 minutes, 10 points, 11 rebounds, 3 assists, 2 turnovers, 3 fouls, 5-for-6 shooting, 83.3% TS, +4

Just another day at the office for Looney. This kind of performance has become the norm from him. He patrolled the paint, controlled the glass and showed how good his offense has become with perfect timing and angles on his rolls to the rim.

Grade: A-

Bonus after the game: Led the team in rebounds.

Klay Thompson

34 minutes, 27 points, 1 rebound, 4 assists, 1 steal, 1 turnover, 10-for-17 shooting, 4-for-9 threes, 3-for-4 free throws, 72.0% TS, +4

If Klay is scoring this well and efficiently right now, just imagine what he’s going to look like when his other Splash Brother is integrated back into the lineup.

Not only is he controlling the offense, but he still is so clutch, with huge threes when the Warriors need them. His game play was some of the best I’ve ever seen it in this game and he didn’t seem compromised at all playing the back of a back-to-back.

What a joy.

Grade: A

Bonus after the game: Led the team in points.

Donte DiVincenzo

32 minutes, 3 points, 7 rebounds, 6 assists, 1 steal, 2 turnovers, 4 fouls, 1-for-3 shooting, 1-for-3 threes, 50.0% TS, +1

A stark reminder from DiVincenzo that even guards don’t need to score to impact the game. With the Warriors playing rather sluggish out of the gates, DiVincenzo provided a burst of energy in addition to his outstanding perimeter defense on CJ McCollum. And six assists? Yep. He can do a little bit of everything.

Helps that the one shot he did make was in a huge moment.

Grade: B+

Jordan Poole

34 minutes, 18 points, 2 rebounds, 7 assists, 1 steal, 1 block, 3 turnovers, 2 fouls, 3-for-13 shooting, 0-for-5 threes, 12-for-12 free throws, 49.2% TS , +11

We’ve seen Poole have a lot of poor shooting nights this year. What we has not seen a lot of is what he did Friday: relentlessly attack the rim for easy shots at the charity stripe, running around defenses like a scrambling quarterback until a play developed to make for a teammate.

This was a huge improvement for Poole, who didn’t settle for back-hoppers when he got cold.

Grade: B

Bonus after the game: Led the team in assists.

Jonathan Kuminga

32 minutes, 19 points, 7 rebounds, 4 steals, 1 block, 2 turnovers, 3 fouls, 9-for-13 shooting, 1-for-2 threes, 73.1% TS, +13

Am I being a prisoner of the moment if I say this was the best game of Kuminga’s career?

In the last few games we have really seen things start to come into focus for JK. This is what the team envisioned when they drafted him. This is why he was a lottery pick. This is why Steve Kerr said many times – publicly and privately – that if he focuses on defense and on making the right reads, results will follow.

He flashed dominance in this game, and was effective in pretty much every facet of the game. He looked like a player who could be a perennial All-Star, or at least a quality starter on a great team.

Grade: A+

Bonus after the game: Best plus/minus on the team.

JaMychal Green

15 minutes, 14 points, 6 rebounds, 1 assist, 2 blocks, 1 foul, 5-for-7 shooting, 1-for-2 threes, 3-for-4 free throws, 79.9% TS, -1

Green has had a foot and a half out of the rotation in recent games, but with his other namesake in foul trouble early in this one, he was pressed into action. And he answered the call in a tremendous way. It was energy. There were a ton of returns. There were emphatic thuds. It was some of his best defensive moments since donning a Dubs jersey.

He may not be able to make an impact every night, but there are some nights where he is a critical piece.

Grade: A

Anthony Lamb

17 minutes, 11 points, 1 assist, 1 foul, 4-for-10 shooting, 3-for-8 threes, 55.0% TS, +5

Lamb’s shooting was better than the numbers suggest, as he had a couple of times where he took wild shots to save the team at the shot clock buzzer. But beyond a few well-timed threes, he didn’t really do much in this one.

He has just one game left on his two-way eligibility.

Grade: C+

Ty Jerome

22 minutes, 2 points, 3 rebounds, 5 assists, 2 turnovers, 2 fouls, 1-for-5 shooting, 0-for-1 threes, 20.0% TS, -3

Jerome’s offense has hit a wall of ice lately. In his last four games, he’s shooting just 4-for-18 from the field, and 0-for-7 on threes. He does a lot of other things well though, but defenses are definitely not paying attention to him.

Grade: C+

Bonus after the game: Worst plus/minus on the team.

Moses Moody

6 minutes, 0 points, 1 rebound, 2 turnovers, +7

After being relegated to garbage time in the last two games, Moody actually got some run in this contest, starting in the second quarter.

He didn’t really do much, but he didn’t get much of an opportunity either.

Grade: C

Friday’s DNPs: Patrick Baldwin Jr., Lester Quiñones

Friday’s inactive: Steph Curry, Andre Iguodala, Gary Payton II, Ryan Rollins, Andrew Wiggins

read more