For the second game in a row, the Golden State Warriors faced a team that was incredibly on the mend, and with 0.2 seconds left, the splash brother emerged with the game-winning shot.
What are the odds of that in the world?
This time the opponent, the Oklahoma City Thunder, couldn’t miss a shot before watching him steal a 141-139 win. It was the ninth time in franchise history – and the third time in the last 30 years – that Golden State won a game in which their opponent shot 60% or better from the field.
Don’t make a habit of it, boys, but again: a win is a win is a win.
However, time to rank the players. As always, each player will be graded based on my expectations, with a grade of “B” representing average performance for that player.
Note: True-shooting percentage (TS) is a scoring efficiency metric that counts threes and free throws. Last year the league-average TS was 58.1%.
Draymond Green
29 minutes, 15 points, 5 rebounds, 3 assists, 1 block, 3 turnovers, 5 fouls, 5-of-11 shooting, 2-of-4 threes, 3-of-3 free throws, 60.9% TS, -1
Green has been revitalized on offense this young season. Despite missing training camp and the first two games of the season, Dre has been playing some of the best offense he’s offered in recent years: his usual game is there, but in his four games he’s averaging 9.5 points (though not yet playing a full. minutes), two 10-of-20 shooting, 4-of-10 threes, and 6-of-8 free throws.
Like every Warrior, Green cooked up a fair amount of time on the other side of the court, but more than anything I wanted to make some crazy plays up to OKC.
Grade: B+
Kevon Looney
11 minutes, 4 points, 3 rebounds, 4 assists, 1 steal, 1 block, 2 turnovers, 4 fouls, 1-for-2 shooting, 2-for-2 free throws, 69.4% TS, -1
Looney only played 11 minutes. He struggled with both the athleticism of Jalen Williams and the size/wingspan/athleticism of Zedd Holmgren, and it was clear early on that smaller lineups and Dario Saric were both better options.
Grade: C
Andrew Wiggins
27 minutes, 17 points, 5 rebounds, 1 assist, 1 foul, 6-of-11 shooting, 0-of-1 threes, 5-of-8 free throws, 58.5% TS, -14
Easily Wiggins’ best game of the season. He set the tone for the Warriors with aggression early and some big plays on the offensive glass, including four of his five rebounds as they tried to overcome a fourth-quarter deficit. It was his highest score that season.
It wasn’t all pretty and that’s why he once again dropped out of the final lineup, and it certainly wasn’t his best defensive day; Again, it’s not for anyone!
All in all, a very inspiring performance from Wigs who looked like herself.
Grade: B+
Post-match bonus: Worst plus-minus on the team.
Step curry
31 minutes, 30 points, 8 rebounds, 7 assists, 2 steals, 3 turnovers, 1 foul, 9-of-15 shooting, 5-of-10 threes, 7-of-7 free throws, 83.0% TS, +5
Curry’s scoring streak to start the season continues. Although technically in this game, he added his league-leading points (185). lowered “Just” 30.8 points per game.
He’s shooting 72.2% on two-pointers and 46.5% on threes this year. Remember when his coach said he never had a better offseason shooting than this summer? Yes, about that…
Curry played the role of a life saver. Whenever the Thunder tried to run with things, Curry came in and made a big shot. or unreal pass.
He has a The biggest With some strong defensive possessions, layup down the stretch, and he was a threat on the glass, building the game high 7’1 Holmgren.
Of course, he had the most important shot of the night, somehow going to the rim and after a few minutes of replay, what was ultimately deemed the game-winning shot.
You know the rule: You only get one grade when you hit a game-winner.
Grade: A+
Post-match bonus: Led the team in points and rebounds.
Clay Thompson
33 minutes, 18 points, 3 rebounds, 1 assist, 1 turnover, 4 fouls, 6-of-10 shooting, 4-of-6 threes, 2-of-2 free throws, 82.7% TS, 0 plus/minus
After opening night, I heard a lot of grumbling from fans who were concerned that Clay was firing off a quick trigger and taking ill-advised shots.
Curry and Chris Paul were quick to defend Thompson after that loss — still the only loss of the season — and said they liked Klay’s shots. I admit: I thought they were good shots that didn’t go in.
Since then? He was 14-of-25 on twos and 12-of-24 on threes. It will work.
He has also been doing big plays for a long time. His game-winner on Wednesday was obvious, but Clay also had great late-game defense (he helped force a turnover in the final minute), made good decisions, and had ice on his nerves (he made a game-tying and go-ahead free with 38.1 seconds left. made the throw).
He leads the team in minutes per game! A fantastic season so far.
Grade: A-
Dario Saric
20 minutes, 20 points, 6 rebounds, 3 assists, 1 steal, 1 turnover, 2 fouls, 6-of-9 shooting, 4-of-7 threes, 4-of-4 free throws, 92.9% TS, +3
With all due respect to Warriors legend and NBA champion Nemanja Bjelica, it’s time to retire the “Šarić is this year’s Bjelica” talk.
If Bjelica excels in every area of basketball, Šarić is just like Bjelica.
Super Dario hit three triples in the first quarter and scored a team-high 11 points, showing how the Warriors can get some much-needed points.
He also showed scoring late in the game, but it was his rebounding, passing and hustle that really affected the game. His rapport with Paul is on full display, and the two crafty, careful and ultra-talented players bring a lot of calm to the bench unit.
It took a few games to get his shot going, but in the last two games, Saric has 35 points in 40 minutes.
After Leah’s wonderful article I had to help.
Grade: A+
Jonathan Guminga
22 minutes, 19 points, 2 rebounds, 1 assist, 3 turnovers, 2 fouls, 9-of-15 shooting, 0-of-2 threes, 1-of-2 free throws, 59.8% TS, +3
This is the story of two gumingas, good and bad.
On the positive side, Kuminga gave us a great glimpse of his potential as a unit-changing isolation scorer. We’ve seen great attacking games from him, but this was – in my view – the best we’ve seen him fit into the role of go-to scorer. He didn’t force action, didn’t take bad shots, but he showed the ability to get the ball with 10 seconds left on the shot clock, go to work, cook his defender and see well. The Warriors have had Wiggins and Jordan Poole in that role in previous years, and Kuminga is very excited to fill it. Having a player on the bench unit means you can give the ball away, clear out and hope you get a good shot.
The negative is that Kuminga did nothing else. He’s been all over the place this season (in the good sense of the word, not the out-of-control sense), but this game didn’t feature much from him in terms of defense or rebounding.
But it sure got me excited!
Grade: B+
Chris Paul
28 minutes, 1 point, 2 rebounds, 13 assists, 2 steals, 1 foul, 0-for-6 shooting, 0-for-2 threes, 1-for-2 free throws, 7.3% TS, +6
Ready for some wild stats? Here they come!
The scoring and shooting were rotten, but that was the only blemish on his resume in his first week as a Warrior. And the way he plays, Ball scoring doesn’t turn a bad season into a good one; It could turn a good season into an All-Star campaign.
I get the feeling that I don’t have enough words this season to explain how important he is to this team. If he doesn’t slow down and control the second unit in both areas, I don’t think they’ll come close to winning this game.
Grade: A-
Post-match bonus: Led the team to help.
Gary Payton II
22 minutes, 9 points, 3 rebounds, 1 assist, 2 steals, 1 turnover, 2 fouls, 4-of-6 shooting, 1-of-3 threes, 75.0% TS, +9
One of the things I was most looking forward to this season was seeing Payton healthy. Things never worked out in Portland, and he returned to Tubbs with an apparent illness. Even after his month off, it was clear that he wasn’t as fit and athletic as we were used to.
I’m excited to see him return to his 2021-22 form. Instead, we get something better.
GPII has been involved in many late game lineups this year due to his defensive prowess, defensive versatility, his activity on the glass (again the total doesn’t accurately reflect his impact) and his cutting.
This time a large basket was produced.
It felt like Payton had to play only sparingly, even though he was good at his minutes. Now it looks like he should have a bigger rotation role: and it looks like he does.
Grade: A
Post-match bonus: Led the team in plus/minus.
Moses Moody
18 minutes, 8 points, 1 rebound, 2 assists, 1 steal, 1 turnover, 3 fouls, 3-of-7 shooting, 2-of-5 threes, 57.1% TS, +4
Two items. First, after playing his worst game of the season on Wednesday, Moody was very casual in this one. Second, part of the evolution of his game is that he still does good things when he’s not great.
He is going to get good marks from me. But in years past, a lack of good quality meant he seriously hurt the team’s chances of success. This year, it means he hasn’t had a huge positive impact on their chances.
Grade: C
Court
I really like that NBA teams use special courts for regular season games. If they’re going to do this competitive experiment, they need to go all out and do things that make it clear that a game is an in-season competitive game. Make the experience different, make people pay attention, etc.
This is a great idea. I love it.
But what’s in the bubblegum crash bandicoot lego childhood coloring book vegas light display wwe photoshop vw beetle???
Grade: F
Friday TNPs: Usman Karuba, Corey Joseph, Jerome Robinson
Friday Inactive: Trace Jackson-Davis, Brandin Pat Ziemia, Lester Quinones
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