Steph Curry, Andrew Wiggins, Gui Santos Graded in Warrior’s loss against Kings

Golden State Warriors lost against Sacramento Kings 123-117 Wednesday night. It was a disappointing and empty loss because the dubs carried a 17-point lead into the half-time area. The execution of the late game was pretty awful and they looked overfilled when they lost speed.

And yet, as I wrote in the summary, it was still an encouraging performance, considering the kings were red -hot, at home and fully healthy, while Warriors were without their best defensive player, their second best goal scorer and two key bench players while also losing their starting center in the first half.

So if the characters are more optimistic than you feel after that meltdown, that’s why. As always, grades are based on my expectations of each player, with a “B” quality that represents the average performance of this player.

Note: True-shooting percentage (TS) is a scoring efficiency metration that accounts for triangles and free kicks. Entering Wednesday’s game was TS on League average 57.4%.

Andrew Wiggins

38 minutes, 25 points, 6 rebounds, 3 assists, 1 steal, 3 revenue, 2 errors, 8-for-20 shooting, 5-for-11 triangles, 4-for-5 free throw, 56.3% ts, -8

A very strong all-round game for Wiggins. He was the best goal scorer for Warriors for much of the night, both when they built a big lead and when they shrinked to stop the bleeding in the fourth quarter. He had some clutch shoots late in the game that would get a lot of attention if Warriors won.

Pretty good defensive effort too.

Character: A-
Bonus after the game: Led the team in points.

Gary Payton II

13 minutes, 8 points, 6 rebounds, 1 assist, 4 revenue, 3 errors, 3-for-6 shooting, 1-for-3 triangles, 1-for-1 free throw, 62.1% ts

Kind of an extremely high and low game for GPII. He had some brilliance at both ends of the court, but was also a little out of control of a fairly painful four revenue and three violations in just 13 minutes of action.

Character: C.

Kevon Looney

9 minutes, 0 points, 2 rebounds, 2 errors, 0-for-3 shooting, 0.0% TS, +6

Looney moved back in the starting lineup, though it seems that the plan was not to play him too much even before leaving the game with illness. I didn’t think he was playing well, but I won’t be too harsh on him considering the disease.

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

Buddy Hield

25 minutes, 17 points, 3 rebounds, 1 assist, 3 stealing, 1 revenue, 2 errors, 6-for-12 shooting, 5-for-9 triangles, 70.8% TS, +3

Pretty Darn Good Game for HIELD. He came back to being the aggressive, effective goal scorer that Warriors thought they had earlier in the season while maintaining the improved defense that has been labeled for his game over the past month. He was also unusually timely with some ultra-clutch shoots.

Character: A.

Steph Curry

34 minutes, 14 points, 3 rebounds, 12 assists, 3 revenue, 1 error, 6-for-11 shooting, 1-for-4 triangles, 1-for-1 free throws, 61.2% ts, +2

A kind of weird curry game. He went full quarterback mode and exposed teammates and was constantly looking for shooters on their way to a season high 12 assists. It looked like a brilliant choice in the first half when his teammates seemed to make every open shot.

But it looked less like a choice and more like setting up in the second half as Warriors needed Curry to start scoring and he simply couldn’t open very often. Sacramento focused their entire defensive plan on him, and while Curry still had a pretty good game, Warriors just won’t win many matches when he scores 14 points.

Character: B+
Bonus after the game: Led the team in assists.

Moses Moody

26 minutes, 11 points, 2 rebounds, 2 assists, 3 errors, 4-for-10 shooting, 3-for-7 triangles, 55.0% TS, -4

On a day when Dubs gave the ball away 19 times, Moody was one of only three players (along with the two centers) not to turn the ball over. And for that we thank him.

He also had some great triangles in this game, although the overall shooting line was slightly below average efficiency. Warriors need more rebounds from him if they want to play him at Power Forward, but his energy and aggression were very welcome sights.

Character: B.

Trayce Jackson-Davis

24 minutes, 11 points, 8 rebounds, 2 assists, 1 steal, 4 errors, 4-for-6 shooting, 3-for-6 free kick, 63.7% ts, -2

A really strong TJD game. He played pretty good defense, even against Domanta’s Sabonis, and had a very artificial offensive game. He really shows an improved ability to finish through the contact and he had some lovely passports as he begins to learn how to find his rear cutters. Super aggressive on the glass too.

Character: A-
Bonus after the game: Led the team in rebounds.

Lindy Waters III

14 minutes, 3 points, 2 assists, 1 block, 1 revenue, 1 error, 1-for-2 shooting, 1-for-2 triangles, 75.0% ts, -10

Waters is such a luxury to have on the back of the rotation, but games like this one are a reminder that he is actually against the back of the rotation and should not trust nightly when the team is healthy. Just a hard game for him to get started a lot.

Character: C.
Bonus after the game: Tied to the worst plus/minus on the team.

Dennis Schröder

21 minutes, 7 points, 3 rebounds, 5 assists, 5 revenue, 3 errors, 3-for-8 shooting, 1-for-3 triangles, 43.8% ts, -5

For some reason, I remain optimistic for Schröder to figure out things and be the quality veteran he has been in the better part of a decade for Warriors at some point. It’s really, really, really hard to adapt to a new team on the go, so much less one with so unique of an offensive system that Warriors have. But he is really struggling right now, and Steve Kerr, who moves him out of the starting lineup, seems a pretty clear admission of it.

Character: D+

Quinten Post

15 minutes, 5 points, 6 rebounds, 1 assist, 1 block, 1 revenue, 5 errors, 2-for-5 shooting, 1-for-4 triangles, 50.0% ts, -10

How fun to see post gets some serious minutes! After the game, Kerr said he wants to get rookie into the rotation more forward and you can see why. Post has size that we haven’t seen on Warriors in a while, which appeared with posts rebounding and overall presence. And his threat as a pick-and-pop scorer could really unlock new things for the offense.

He was schooled a little against an all-star in Sabonis (including five errors), but mostly he held more than his own.

Character: B+
Bonus after the game: Tied to the worst plus/minus on the team.

Gui Santos

23 minutes, 16 points, 5 rebounds, 2 assists, 1 revenue, 1 error, 6-for-9 shooting, 4-for-5-triangles, 88.9% ts, 0 +/-

I do not know how the protocol will break down when Draymond Green, Jonathan Kuminga and Kyle Anderson return. But it seems pretty clear that Santos has to stay in the rotation right now. He plays strong defense and quickly learns how to avoid GROROING AND ROOKIE ERRORS. He shoots 12-for-18 from three-point reach. He makes good passports and plays within the offense. And he seems to always be the hardest working person on the field.

Did Dubs found something ???

Character: A+

Wednesday’s DNP cds: Pat Spencer
Wednesday’s inactives: Kyle Anderson, Daymond Green, Jonathan Kuminga, Brandin Podziemski