Steph Curry, Andrew Wiggins score in Warriors loss to Clippers

The Golden State Warriors lost just their third game of the season on Monday night, falling 102-99 to the LA Clippers. They were doomed by a terrible first half of basketball, which saw them trail by 11 points at the half, and didn’t quite make their comeback. The Dubs completely erased LA’s lead late in the fourth, but ran out of steam, though only just: they got two good looks at game-tying shots in the waning seconds.

But the shots didn’t fall, and so another loss is added to the column. They may only have three of them so far, but two have come against a Clippers team still without Kawhi Leonard. Make of it what you will!

And while you’re at it, I’ll rate the players. As always, grades are based on my expectations for each player, with a “B” grade representing that player’s average performance.

Note: True-shooting percentage (TS) is a measure of scoring efficiency that takes threes and free throws into account. Going into Monday’s game, the league average TS was 57.3%.

Draymond Green

32 minutes, 9 points, 9 rebounds, 7 assists, 1 steal, 1 block, 6 turnovers, 3 fouls, 3-for-7 shooting, 2-for-3 threes, 1-for-2 free throws, 57.1% TS , -3

Draymond Threen’s resurgence from beyond the arc continues! I don’t want to bore you all by posting his three-point stats after every game, but we’re definitely getting out of a small sample size.

In addition to a couple of triples, Green had some mesmerizing passes in this game, and probably should have had way more assists…except it was one of those nights where the shots weren’t falling.

In the end, the biggest reason the Warriors were in the game was their defense. And the biggest reason they lost the game was their turnover. And Green was probably the player most responsible for both of those things, so … even call it, I guess?

Grade: B-
Bonus after the game: Led the team in rebounds and assists.

Lindy Waters III

29 minutes, 6 points, 5 rebounds, 1 assist, 3 steals, 1 foul, 2-for-6 shooting, 2-for-4 threes, 50.0% TS, -4

There’s an alternate world where Gary Payton II realizes Steph Curry’s last-second pass wasn’t meant for him and steps out of the way to let Waters catch it. Waters was in one of his favorite spots, with his feet planted and his momentum moving toward the hoop. Maybe he would have played the hero, sent the game to overtime and helped the Dubs win it there.

Or maybe he would have missed it. After all, basic math says it’s most likely.

Either way, Waters continued his fun rotation trend: either start or don’t play. Lucky for him it was the former on Monday and he acquitted himself well. He was very active in all phases of the game and had some good defensive plays. It wasn’t a particularly remarkable performance, but it was pretty solid for a player who wasn’t even supposed to be in the oversized rotation.

Grade: B+

Trayce Jackson-Davis

20 minutes, 8 points, 3 rebounds, 2 assists, 1 steal, 1 block, 2 turnovers, 1 foul, 4-for-5 shooting, 0-for-2 free throws, 68.0% TS, -11

It was a tale of two stints for TJD, who had the unenviable task of holding it down as the lone center against Ivica Zubac, with Kevon Looney missing the game due to illness.

Jackson-Davis struggled pretty mightily in the first quarter. He couldn’t do much offensively, couldn’t slow down Zubac and didn’t make an impact. But his stint in the second quarter was some of the best basketball we’ve ever seen from him as he was a terror on both ends of the court. It was amazing to see.

Grade: B
Bonus after the game: Worst plus/minus on the team.

Andrew Wiggins

29 minutes, 22 points, 3 rebounds, 1 block, 1 turnover, 7-for-12 shooting, 2-for-4 threes, 6-for-8 free throws, 70.9% TS, -5

Like nearly all of his teammates, the first-half Wiggins and the second-half Wiggins were dramatically different players. While his defense on James Harden was okay, his offense in the first half was pretty terrible. He seemed to miss shots he should have made and he stood out a lot.

But the second half was a huge change. Wiggins was far and away the team’s best non-Curry scorer, attacking relentlessly and scoring at high speed. He cut again and again and converted those cuts into layups and free throws.

It was still a strange game for Wiggins. He seemed to just float on offense during possessions when he didn’t score, as evidenced by the lack of assists. He also seemed pretty disinterested in rebounding and his defense came and went.

But the Warriors would have been blown out without the offensive explosion in the second half, and that counts for a lot.

Grade: B

Steph Curry

32 minutes, 26 points, 7 rebounds, 6 assists, 1 block, 3 turnovers, 1 foul, 10-for-21 shooting, 6-for-15 threes, 61.9% TS, -5

I’m not quite sure what to make of Curry’s game. He was downright awful in the first quarter, and not much better in the second. He set the tone (in a bad way) with some turnovers in the first quarter, and was just pretty sloppy.

And then he was absolutely electric in the third quarter, nearly dragging his team to a victory they didn’t deserve. He made huge shots down the stretch. And in the aforementioned alternate reality, which we never get to see, he might even have helped tie game (although it’s worth noting, of course, that in actually The reality that arose, Curry missed a three).

Curry is far from the main reason the Warriors lost, but in a season defined by depth, this was a game they weren’t going to win without Curry playing like an MVP, and he was “just” really good.

Grade: B
Bonus after the game: Led the team in points.

Jonathan Kuminga

19 minutes, 12 points, 2 rebounds, 3 assists, 3 steals, 1 turnover, 5-for-10 shooting, 1-for-3 threes, 1-for-4 free throws, 51.0% TS, +2

What a strange game from Kuminga. He did some great things, including a few plays where it clearly clicked for him to be aggressive. He made some crucial things happen on defense and was pretty solid on that end of the floor all night.

Still, I said earlier that turnovers were the biggest reason the Warriors lost. The next reason? Free throw. Golden State shot a pathetic 9-for-19 from the charity stripe, while the Clippers shot a respectable 16-for-18. Considering Golden State lost by three points, I probably don’t need to tell you how important those numbers are, and Kuminga was the team’s biggest offender.

Kuminga gave the Dubs some of their brightest moments in the game, but at the risk of appealing to authority figures, there’s also a reason he only played 19 minutes.

Grade: B-

Kyle Andersen

13 minutes, 2 points, 2 rebounds, 2 assists, 1 steal, 2 fouls, 1-for-4 shooting, 0-for-2 threes, 25.0% TS, -2

Maybe it’s time to put the whole Kyle Anderson shooting thing to bed.

He’s still a great all-around player, but those jumpers were pretty painful to watch in this one.

Grade: C

Buddy Hield

23 minutes, 8 points, 2 rebounds, 1 assist, 1 steal, 2 turnovers, 2 fouls, 3-for-7 shooting, 2-for-6 threes, 57.1% TS, +5

Not to put too much pressure on Hield’s shoulders, but it’s probably easier for the Warriors to win without another star next to Curry when Hield has his scoring explosions. Unfortunately, he didn’t really have one in this game.

He had a strong effort in the first quarter to score some points when the team was desperate for them, but didn’t do much after that. He also had one of the worst plays of the game: after the Warriors overcame a 15-point deficit to tie the game with seconds left in the third quarter, Hield chased Amir Coffey on an off-balance three at the buzzer. Between the play, the subsequent three free throws (which Coffey made) and the stoppage in play (a review occurred to ensure the foul occurred before the buzzer and to confirm there was a three), the Warriors appeared to be losing most of the momentum they had gained.

On the bright side, he was on the court for some of the team’s best stretches, and I think his gravitas as a shooter at least had something to do with it.

Grade: C-
Bonus after the game: Best plus/minus on the team.

Gary Payton II

12 minutes, 0 points, 4 rebounds, 2 assists, 1 steal, 1 foul, 0-for-4 shooting, 0-for-2 threes, 0.0% TS, +3

I’m sure there will be some fans who blame Payton for catching the game-ending pass that was intended for Waters. Waters is definitely the player you’d rather have shooting a three at the buzzer, and I’m sure GPII would be the first person to tell you that.

I don’t blame him for that game though. There were a few seconds in the game, it was a broken play, he was open and the ball came right to him. You can’t expect someone to know exactly where their teammate is in that situation and back out of the game.

Still, while he’s completely exonerated for that game in my book, he’s not entirely exonerated for the rest of the game, which was pretty mediocre. He played great defense, as expected, but his offense was a bit of a struggle and he didn’t have an easy time impacting the game.

Grade: C+

Moses Moody

16 minutes, 5 points, 3 rebounds, 1 assist, 3 turnovers, 2 fouls, 2-for-4 shooting, 1-for-3 threes, 62.5% TS, +3

It was an uneven match for Moody. He and Kuminga were the two players that I thought actually played well in the first half, but then they didn’t in the second half. Moody’s scoring looked nice – he had a great, aggressive handle on the frame – but he seemed a step behind in other parts of the game. He made some uncharacteristically poor passes and seemed to just stand around the defense for long stretches.

This was the second time Moody has had at least three turnovers in a game this year, having done so just three times total in its first three seasons. Part of that is because he’s more aggressive and taking on a bigger role in the attack, and those are good things. But a lot of his success comes from not making mistakes, so that’s a touch worrying.

Grade: C

Brandin Podziemski

16 minutes, 1 point, 5 rebounds, 2 assists, 1 steal, 1 turnover, 1 foul, 0-for-4 shooting, 0-for-2 threes, 1-for-3 free throws, 9.4% TS, +2

A compliment to Podziemski: it doesn’t matter if his teammates show up and act like they’re stuck in the mud, Podz will always bring the energy. And he certainly brought it into this game, even if it’s not quite enough to make me overlook the brutal attempts to score. However, he was a threat on the glass and played quite good defense.

Grade: C

Monday’s DNPs: Quinten Post, Gui Santos
Monday’s inactive: Reece Beekman, De’Anthony Melton, Pat Spencer