The Golden State Warriors began the post-Jimmy Butler III era on Tuesday and … well … it didn’t exactly go very well, as the Dubs were crushed by the Toronto Raptors 145-127. It perhaps wasn’t as bad as the score suggests though, as it was kind of a case of “one of those games.” The Raptors are the worst three-point shooting team in the NBA, yet shot 21-for-34 (61.8%) from deep, easily their best shooting performance of the season. They were led by a career game from Immanuel Quickley, who shot 11-for-13 from the field, 7-for-8 from deep, and 11-for-11 on free throws for 40 points, setting the NBA record for highest true shooting percentage (112.1%) on a game with 40 or more points. Painfully, while it was just the 18th time in NBA history that a player scored 40+ on 100% or better true shooting, it was the second time this season … with both instances coming at the expense of Golden State’s defense (Aaron Gordon, as you probably could guess, was the other).
So it wasn’t so much a case of the Warriors playing horribly, and more a case of them playing mediocrely, while running into the hottest shooting performance imaginable. My grades will reflect that (I’m also giving everyone a little bit of a pass given that they were only 19 hours removed from finding out that their second-best player is out for the season), and thus probably be a little bit better than you expect for a blowout loss. As always, grades are based on my expectations for each individual 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 Tuesday’s games, league average TS was 58.1%.
Moses Moody
18 minutes, 10 points, 5 rebounds, 5-for-7 shooting, 0-for-2 threes, 0-for-1 free throws, 67.2% TS, -20
Moody has been red hot from three-point range lately, though that didn’t carry over into this game. Instead, he heated up from inside the arc, which was nice to see. He’s a quality player as a good three-point shooter, but being able to get easy shots at the rim is one of the secrets to taking his game to the next level. Watching him shoot a perfect 5-for-5 on twos was a delight.
It wasn’t his best defensive performance, but it was more a case of “good offense beats good defense” than bad defense.
Grade: B+
Draymond Green
22 minutes, 6 points, 6 rebounds, 5 assists, 2 turnovers, 3-for-9 shooting, 0-for-4 threes, 33.3% TS, -27
Green returned after a one-game absence to nurse a sprained ankle. He did a lot of good things in this game, though it wasn’t nearly enough given the quality of Toronto’s offense.
Grade: C+
Post-game bonus: Tied for the team lead in assists, worst plus/minus on the team.
Quinten Post
18 minutes, 12 points, 7 rebounds, 2 fouls, 5-for-9 shooting, 2-for-3 threes, 66.7% TS, -10
I think I speak for everyone when I say it was great seeing Post have such a strong rebounding game. Seven boards in 18 minutes! That’s more like what we all want to see out of a center.
He also played well on offense. Quite well, I thought. He didn’t get a lot of minutes, and he was removed from the starting lineup in the second half, but that was more due to the way the Raptors were beating the Warriors up and down the court than anything he did.
Grade: A-
Post-game bonus: Led the team in rebounds.
Brandin Podziemski
22 minutes, 11 points, 3 rebounds, 2 assists, 1 steal, 1 block, 2 turnovers, 2 fouls, 4-for-10 shooting, 1-for-7 threes, 2-for-5 free throws, 45.1% TS, -24
Podz has been playing some inspired ball lately, but this game wasn’t really it. I liked a lot of what he did on defense, though his lack of speed was exposed on a few occasions. On offense, he tried to do a little bit too much and it came back to bite him.
Grade: C-
Steph Curry
25 minutes, 16 points, 3 rebounds, 3 assists, 1 steal, 1 turnover, 1 foul, 6-for-16 shooting, 2-for-7 threes, 2-for-3 free throws, 46.2% TS, -25
This game just goes to show you that anything can happen on any given night in the NBA. The worst-shooting three-point team in the league had one of the best shooting performances we’ve seen in the NBA this year, while the greatest shooter in the history of the sport couldn’t buy a bucket. Curry missed more free throws than the entire Toronto team, and that basically sums up the entire night.
Grade: C-
Gary Payton II
11 minutes, 9 points, 1 steal, 2 turnovers, 2 fouls, 3-for-4 shooting, 2-for-2 threes, 1-for-2 free throws, 92.2% TS, +3
GPII was a little bit out of control on a few occasions, and he didn’t provide the rebounding boost that we’ve grown accustomed to, but he was an absolute spark plug on offense, and was probably the closest thing the Warriors had to shutting down Toronto’s offense.
Grade: B+
Gui Santos
15 minutes, 3 points, 2 assists, 1 turnover, 4 fouls, 1-for-2 shooting, 1-for-2 threes, 75.0% TS, -14
Very nice to see Santos out there after missing two games with an ankle injury. The Warriors are going to need him in a post-Butler world: not just because they’re missing their best forward, but because high-energy players are critical for keeping a team afloat when they lose a leader. And one thing we know is that Santos will always bring the energy.
That said, he didn’t play well in this game.
Grade: C
De’Anthony Melton
20 minutes, 6 points, 3 rebounds, 5 assists, 1 steal, 5 turnovers, 3 fouls, 2-for-6 shooting, 0-for-3 threes, 2-for-2 free throws, 43.6% TS, +2
I’m very curious to see what happens with Melton’s minutes in the aftermath of Butler’s injury. He’s really been finding his rhythm and game lately, and I think it’s pretty clear that he’s — at worst — the third-best player on the team now. He’s also the player who makes the most sense to slide into Butler’s role of running the offense when Curry is sidelined. He obviously isn’t the scorer that Butler is, but he can still get buckets, and he’s a tremendous passer and facilitator. Keep an eye on his role and his minutes.
He really helped the Warriors in this game, even though the stats were ugly. Five turnovers is brutal — and the most he’d had in a game since November, 2022 — and he didn’t shoot the ball well. But the offense just clicked when he was on the court. Like Curry with his gravity and wizardry, you could see why Melton helps the Warriors so much, even though he gets a poor grade.
Grade: C-
Post-game bonus: Tied for the team lead in assists.
Trayce Jackson-Davis
12 minutes, 0 points, 1 assist, 1 foul, 0-for-1 shooting, 0.0% TS, +8
TJD is settling back into a rotational rhythm where he plays 10-20 minutes when Al Horford sits, and is mostly out of the rotation when Horford plays. He did some nice things on defense in this game, but the Warriors can’t have a non-scoring center play 12 minutes without grabbing a rebound. He just really didn’t do much at all.
Grade: C–
Will Richard
23 minutes, 0 points, 1 assist, 1 steal, 1 turnover, 2 fouls, 0-for-4 shooting, 0-for-3 threes, 0.0% TS, +7
After two straight games in the starting lineup, Richard returned to the bench for this game and … well … it didn’t go particularly well. He continues to play with far more control and poise and intelligence than a rookie should have, but his game was entirely devoid of impact plays.
Grade: C–
Buddy Hield
19 minutes, 25 points, 1 rebound, 2 assists, 1 steal, 7-for-8 shooting, 6-for-6 threes, 5-for-5 free throws, 122.5% TS, +10
Hield shot the ball so well that you would have sworn he was wearing a Raptors jersey. If you didn’t watch the game, let me just tell you: he played every bit as well as that stat line would suggest. Maybe he was inspired by his close friend Butler. Maybe, being the lovable professional that he is, he just knew exactly what the team needed. Either way, Hield caught a Klay-esque heater and it was an absolute joy to watch. It also got the team back in the game late in the third quarter, when he had an outrageous sequence in the closing minute: he was fouled on a three, made all of the free throws and, nine seconds later, following a Melton steal, drained another three, pulling the Warriors to within 14 points when they had trailed by 30 earlier in the quarter.
He had been out of the rotation for a while, but with Butler out for the season, the Warriors are going to need Buddy’s offense.
Grade: A++
Post-game bonus: Led the team in points, best plus/minus on the team.
Jonathan Kuminga
21 minutes, 20 points, 5 rebounds, 2 assists, 1 steal, 2 turnovers, 1 foul, 7-for-10 shooting, 1-for-3 threes, 5-for-8 free throws, 74.0% TS, +3
Hield may have been the best player for the Warriors on Tuesday, but Kuminga was the best story. Earlier in the day I opined that it was time for the Warriors to play Kuminga again. And shortly before tip-off, Mike Dunleavy Jr. held a press conference in which he plainly laid out reality, saying that while Kuminga did demand a trade, there still needs to be market demand for a trade to work.
And then the game came and Kuminga played for the first time in 33 days, and played double-digit minutes for the first time in 45 days. And if it weren’t for Hield’s all-world shooting performance, Kuminga would have been the best player on the Warriors.
He made his entrance to start the second quarter, and looked out of sorts — pretty understandable given the situation. He was a little unsure of where to be, and moved tentatively, something that anyone who played sporadic minutes during their playing days can relate to. He badly missed a pair of free throws.
That short stint in the second quarter was all he needed to shake off the rust, apparently. He returned in the third quarter and didn’t take a seat again until the white towel was waved. His offense was nothing short of ferocious: he punished Toronto’s defenders, and muscled his way to the hoop. Kuminga’s isolation offense may not be the Platonic ideal of a player in Steve Kerr’s system, but with Butler out, the Warriors need someone who can get a bucket by himself, moving downhill. Kuminga is that person.
He may be unhappy with the Warriors, but that didn’t show in his energy, effort, or selflessness. He made good passes. He played with a smile on his face and high-fived his teammates. And he gave it his all, especially on a sensational play to end the third quarter, when he rushed down the court for a buzzer-beating transition layup.
Kuminga didn’t look like a player who had spent the last six weeks accumulating rust, other than in the first few minutes. He looked like a player who spent the last six weeks determined to come back stronger than ever. Maybe his play will make another team excited to trade for him; but if not, he has to be a big part of the rotation going forward. He just has to.
Grade: A+
Pat Spencer
9 minutes, 9 points, 1 rebound, 5 assists, 1 foul, 4-for-4 shooting, 1-for-1 threes, 112.5% TS, +3
That’s one hell of a stat line there, Pat. My word! Nine points on perfect shooting, and five assists in nine minutes? The Warriors may have lost a one-sided game, but their bench positively showed out.
Grade: A+
Post-game bonus: Tied for the team lead in assists.
LJ Cryer
2 minutes, 0 points, 1 foul, -3
Cryer made his NBA debut on Monday, but I wasn’t working and thus didn’t do grades. So I missed the chance to congratulate him, so we’ll do that today, instead.
Grade: A+++ for a lifetime of hard work resulting in a dream accomplished
Malevy Leons
2 minutes, 0 points, 1 rebound, 0-for-1 shooting, 0.0% TS, -3
Leons also made his season debut last night, but it wasn’t his NBA debut, as he briefly appeared in six games for the Oklahoma City Thunder last year. So he gets spared the sentiments — still fun to see him out there, though.
Grade: Incomplete
Tuesday’s inactives: Jimmy Butler III, Seth Curry, Al Horford
