Player grades: Warriors vs. Mavs

Assessing every Golden State player’s performance in the team’s 104-100 win over Dallas.

The Golden State Warriors had a pivotal winning on Tuesday night, executing well down the stretch and putting on a defensive clinic as they beat the Dallas Mavericks 104-100. It gave them a five-game winning streak and, combined with a Houston Rockets loss, put the Dubs in position to all but clinch a play-in tournament spot when they travel to Houston tomorrow.

Grades are coming in late for this game, but better late than never. As always, grades are based on my expectations for 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. League-average TS is 58.0%.

Draymond Green

31 minutes, 11 points, 8 rebounds, 6 assists, 4 steals, 1 block, 3 turnovers, 3 fouls, 5-for-8 shooting, 0-for-1 threes, 1-for-1 free throws, 65.2% TS, -4

Above all else, there are two things that give me a little confidence that the Warriors could still make some serious noise this year. The first is obvious: even though he’s not an MVP candidate this year, Steph Curry can still be the best offensive player in the world on any given day. The second is perhaps less obvious: even though he’s not a DPOY candidate this year, Draymond Green can still be the best defensive player in the world on any given day.

Tuesday was a given day. Green’s defensive performance — especially in the waning moments — was beyond elite. He choreographed the team defense, flew all over the court, and had a late-game block that Chris Paul said was one of the best plays he’d ever seen.

Just sensational work from Dray.

Grade: A
Post-game bonus: Tied for the worst plus/minus on the team.

Trayce Jackson-Davis

21 minutes, 4 points, 10 rebounds, 1 assist, 3 turnovers, 2-for-3 shooting, 66.7% TS, +3

I’ve been enjoying watching TJD get some run as a starter, though that’s likely to change on Thursday when Jonathan Kuminga returns to action. This wasn’t Jackson-Davis’ most impactful game, and the length and activity of Dallas occasionally got to him — his three turnovers were the most he’s had in a game in exactly three months. We should view that more as long-term praise than short-term critique.

The Warriors out-rebounded the Mavs by 10 boards, and TJD was the biggest reason why.

Grade: B
Post-game bonus: Tied for the team lead in rebounds.

Andrew Wiggins

33 minutes, 23 points, 4 rebounds, 2 assists, 1 steal, 1 block, 3 turnovers, 1 foul, 8-for-16 shooting, 3-for-5 threes, 4-for-4 free throws, 64.8% TS, +3

I’ve said it many times this season — sometimes as a compliment, sometimes as a criticism — good things happen when Wiggins plays with aggression and urgency. Sometimes the stats aren’t great and sometimes they are; but when he plays with aggression and urgency, the Warriors almost always look like a significantly different team.

In this particular game, the stats were great, for the most part. Just high-quality stuff all around for Wiggins. If he maintains this approach, the Warriors can have realistic visions of making some runs.

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

Steph Curry

32 minutes, 13 points, 7 rebounds, 7 assists, 1 steal, 2 blocks, 4 turnovers, 1 foul, 5-for-18 shooting, 3-for-5 threes, 36.1% TS, -4

An uncharacteristic shooting performance for Curry, especially against a team that didn’t have any spectacular ways of slowing him down. Sometimes it just happens like that — Curry was just 2-for-13 from inside the arc, and wasn’t able to get to the free throw line at all (though, like always, there were a few times where he probably should have been shooting free throws).

There was some frustration, which led to some forced shots and some turnovers. There was also some digging deep to help the team in other ways ... he gobbled up rebounds and assists, and even blocked a pair of shots.

As always, Curry’s gravity was necessary to win this game. But it wasn’t a very good performance, by his standards.

Grade: C-
Post-game bonus: Led the team in assists, tied for the worst plus/minus on the team.

Klay Thompson

28 minutes, 14 points, 3 rebounds, 2 assists, 1 steal, 2 turnovers, 3 fouls, 5-for-14 shooting, 2-for-8 threes, 2-for-2 free throws, 47.0% TS, -4

I’m not gonna do the research on this, but I’d guess the Warriors haven’t won many games where the Splash Bros combine for just 27 points. And they probably haven’t won many games where Curry, Klay, and Dray all have a negative plus/minus.

But they won this one. Against a good team. In an important game. And that’s damn impressive.

Anyway, a pretty mediocre game from Klay.

Grade: C
Post-game bonus: Tied for the worst plus/minus on the team.

Kevon Looney

10 minutes, 0 points, 4 rebounds, 1 assist, 1 turnover, 1 foul, -1

I’m happy to see Looney getting some playing time again, though with Kuminga returning that may be changing soon. He stays ready, and while this wasn’t a high-impact game for him, it was a solid enough outing for Looney.

Grade: B-

Chris Paul

20 minutes, 14 points, 1 rebound, 5 assists, 6-for-11 shooting, 2-for-3 threes, 63.6% TS, +8

A really nice game for CP3. We know that he’ll lead the second unit with playmaking, leadership, and ball control, but he’s shown quite a bit this season that he can still be a high-impact scorer. With Thompson having just 14 points and Curry a mere 13, Paul stepped in for some much-needed perimeter scoring.

Paul may be a passer first and foremost, but we shouldn’t forget that he’s 36th in NBA history in points scored. And games like this one are a reminder that not only can he score, but he can score in the biggest moments, when the Warriors most need it. This was a clutch performance in every sense.

Grade: A

Gary Payton II

16 minutes, 8 points, 2 rebounds, 1 steal, 4 fouls, 4-for-8 shooting, 0-for-3 threes, 50.0% TS, -1

Not the most impactful game for GPII. But it’s so valuable being able to deploy him against a team like Dallas, knowing he can play high-level defense against both Kyrie Irving and Luka Dončić.

Grade: C+

Moses Moody

20 minutes, 12 points, 3 rebounds, 1 steal, 2 fouls, 4-for-8 shooting, 4-for-6 threes, 75.0% TS, +3

I am so happy seeing Moody getting some regular playing time, even if it’s been facilitated by absences — and thus might not hold going forward. He’s also had a hot hand lately: in his last five games, Moody is 12-for-20 from distance.

If he can be a reliable three-point thread while continuing to play with this type of defensive focus and intensity, he’ll be a player that Steve Kerr cannot take out of the lineup.

Grade: A

Brandin Podziemski

31 minutes, 5 points, 10 rebounds, 5 assists, 1 turnover, 3 fouls, 2-for-4 shooting, 1-for-1 threes, 62.5% TS, +17

What a hilarious game from a plus/minus standpoint: Thompson, Green, and Curry were -4; Looney and Payton were -1; Wiggins, Jackson-Davis, and Moody were +3; and then Paul was +8 and Podziemski a whopping +17.

Anyway, if you’re the kind of person in search of 20-point games, then Podziemski’s box score doesn’t really show just how good he was in every area of the game. And if you’re the kind of person who loves seeing Draymond Green’s stats, then Podz’s 5/10/5 accurately displays just how good he was.

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

Tuesday’s DNP-CDs: Lester Quiñones, Jerome Robinson

Tuesday’s inactives: Usman Garuba, Jonathan Kuminga, Gui Santos, Dario Šarić, Gui Santos