Steph Curry, Jordan Poole qualified in Warriors loss to Wolves

Well, this will hurt for a while. Hopefully the Golden State Warriors can bounce against it Denver Nuggets thursday night, because their game on wednesday against the The Minnesota Timberwolves chopped

The Dubs played very well for three quarters and held a 14-point lead early in the fourth quarter. Playing one of the hottest teams in the league, on the road, they looked to be in control. Then their offense was more sloppy than sloppy, their defense forgot how to contain former teammate D’Angelo Russell, and the game went into overtime. There, Russell quickly fouled out, giving the Warriors a clear lead.

They took this advantage, and lost 119-114.

So now let’s rank the players. As always, the grades are based on my expectations for each player, with a “B” representing that player’s average play.

Note: True Shooting Percentage (TS) is a scoring efficiency metric that takes into account three-pointers and free throws. Entering Wednesday’s games, the TS league average was 57.9%.

Draymond Green

39 minutes, 10 points, 12 rebounds, 4 assists, 1 steal, 5 turnovers, 3 fouls, 5 of 10 shooting, 0 of 3 threes, 50.0% TS, -6

Something very strange happened in this game: Green and Steph Curry were not on the same page. They had multiple plays where they were on completely different pages, and since their relationship is usually the pass from Green to Curry, it led to a ton of turnovers for Dray.

I’m willing to give him a slight overhaul on some of the losses, because his disconnect felt more like Curry’s than Dray’s. There were a few times when Green passed the ball to a spot where he expected Curry to go, and Curry never went.

It was strange to see.

Regardless, it was a below-average offensive game for Dray, but I still thought he was one of the best players on the team. They played a pretty solid road defense, which he was at the helm of, and he rallied like old fashioned.

Degree: B

Bonus after the game: He led the team in rebounds.

Andrew Wiggins

35 minutes, 16 points, 7 rebounds, 3 assists, 2 turnovers, 2 fouls, 7 of 13 shots, 1 of 4 threes, 1 of 2 free throws, 57.6% TS, -8

Offensively, this was a step in the right direction for Wiggins, though he has yet to have a game scoring at above league average efficiency since his superstar performance against the Houston Rockets on December 3, when he suffered the adductor injury.

Wiggins wasn’t on the court in the final minutes of regulation … at least not until the final minute. He looks healthier and more athletic, but still doesn’t make a huge impact.

Props to him for the seven rebounds. He hadn’t had more than five boards in his last 12 games.

Grade: B-

Steph Curry

43 minutes, 29 points, 10 rebounds, 3 assists, 1 steal, 1 block, 4 turnovers, 5 fouls, 8 of 21 shots, 5 of 12 3-pointers, 8 of 9 free throws, 58.1% TS, -5

For most gamers, this would be one of their best games of the year. But for Curry we feel pretty disappointed. He was dynamic early on, with circus shots, aggression and jaw-dropping threes.

But as the game progressed he became more and more sloppy. He miscommunicated with Green on several occasions, had some inexcusable turnovers late, and hit a not-so-good shot to try to win the game late in regulation. As the offense got going, their defense suffered when it started to arrive.

He just looked puzzled. I’ll be curious to see if Kerr lets him go or not for Thursday’s game. A little rest could do him good…but then again, getting back on the horse and destroying everyone could do that too.

Grade: C

Bonus after the game: He led the team in points.

Klay Thompson

40 minutes, 14 points, 6 rebounds, 1 steal, 2 turnovers, 1 foul, 3 of 13 shots, 2 of 7 threes, 6 of 6 free throws, 44.8% TS, +2

Pretty tough game from Klay, though I want to point out how much he’s been stepping up the glass lately. He never had any kind of rhythm in this game, although he did a good job of getting to the free throw line.

Grade: D+

Jordan Poole

32 minutes, 18 points, 7 rebounds, 5 assists, 2 turnovers, 3 fouls, 4 of 13 shots, 1 of 5 threes, 9 of 10 free throws, 51.7% TS, -9

Poole’s energy was huge in this game. He had some key plays of offensive aggression that really acted as a spark plug. He flew into the lane for rebounds and to keep balls alive, and was an aggressive passer. I thought his defense was pretty solid.

Unfortunately, his shot selection and execution was not very good. But I liked the rest of his game.

Grade: B-

Bonus after the game: Tied for the team lead in assists, worst plus/minus on the team.

Jonathan Kuminga

15 minutes, 10 points, 3 rebounds, 1 steal, 1 block, 1 turnover, 4 fouls, 4 of 8 shots, 1 of 2 threes, 1 of 2 free throws, 56.3% TS, -4

Kuminga has really had a foul problem lately…he has 29 in his last seven games. He brought good energy in this game, but I thought he was a little out of control. Still head and shoulders above where he was at the start of the season, but he wasn’t an impact player this season.

Grade: B-

Kevon Looney

28 minutes, 10 points, 9 rebounds, 2 steals, 2 blocks, 4 fouls, 4 of 5 shots, 2 of 2 free throws, 85.0% TS, +12

Looney may have moved to the bench, but it has done nothing to diminish his impact on the game. With Rudy Gobert and Karl-Anthony Towns sidelined, Looney absolutely ate up this game, in every phase. And as a result, he was on the court as part of the final lineup, which was great to see.

Grade: A

Bonus after the game: He led the team in plus/minus.

Anthony Xai

7 minutes, 0 points, 1 assist, 1 foul, 0-of-1 shooting, 0-of-1 3-pointers, 0.0% TS, 0 over/under

Lamb is getting very close to the end of his two-way contract days … but he also appears to be getting removed from the rotation a bit. His minutes have really dwindled. At some point, the Warriors have to move them up or bring other players into the rotation, because it’s too early in the season to play with just a few players.

Still, Lamb looked lost in his limited minutes.

Grade: C-

Don DiVincenzo

25 minutes, 7 points, 4 rebounds, 5 assists, 1 steal, 1 turnover, 1 foul, 3 of 7 shots, 1 of 4 threes, 50.0% TS, -7

DDV was pretty solid, if not spectacular, in almost every phase of the game. He’s a fantastic bench player, and looks amazing when the Warriors are playing well, and a little uninspiring when they’re not.

Degree: B

Bonus after the game: Tied for the team lead in assists.

Wednesday DNP: Patrick Baldwin Jr., JaMychal Green, Moses Moody, James Wiseman

Inactive for Wednesday: Andre Iguodala, Ty Jerome, Ryan Rollins