The Golden State Warriors beat the Miami Heat 120-100 at Chase Center tonight for their sixth straight win since an 0-3 start. What decided it was passing: Golden State assisted 36 of its 42 made field goals, and led by as many as 20. Stephen Curry’s 29 points on 19 shots is the grade that carries the night, but the most unusual line in the box score belongs to Draymond Green, who scored two points and still shaped the game.
Stephen Curry Set the Terms Early
Stephen Curry — A-. 29 points on 9-of-19 shooting, 6-of-12 from three, 5-of-5 at the line, with four assists and zero turnovers in 28 minutes, and Golden State was plus-17 in those minutes. Through his first six games he was averaging 30.0 points on 8.5-of-18.2 shooting and 4.5-of-10.5 from three with 2.0 turnovers a night, so this was his scoring level reached on better three-point accuracy and with nothing given back.
The reason this is an A- and not an A is that a 20-point win over a 3-5 team was not his alone to win, and he sat the fourth quarter entirely. He was the best player on the floor and the game was never close after he had finished with it.
Three B-Pluses for Three Different Jobs
Georges Niang — B+. 13 points on 5-of-8 shooting, 2-of-5 from three, in 22 minutes, with four rebounds, three assists and not a single foul. His season rate through eight games was 7.3 points on 6.6 attempts in 19.9 minutes, so he nearly doubled his scoring on two extra shots — the largest efficiency jump on the roster relative to a player’s own bar.
Draymond Green — B+. Eleven assists against three turnovers in 27 minutes, with five rebounds, a steal and a block, on two points from 1-of-3 shooting. Against a season rate of 6.3 assists and 3.2 turnovers, that is his best creation night of the year at no extra cost, and two points is close to the 3.2 he was averaging anyway. The letter rests on the 11 assists, not on the plus-13.
Al Horford — B+. Eight points on 3-of-3 shooting, 2-of-2 from three, with five rebounds and no turnovers in 18 minutes. He had been shooting .407 for 5.0 points a game, so perfect shooting on a small sample is comfortably above his level; four fouls in 18 minutes is the only thing keeping it from higher.
The Reserve Guards Shot Well in Short Minutes
Gary Payton II — B. Nine points on 3-of-3 shooting, 1-of-1 from three and 2-of-2 at the line in exactly 10 minutes. His season line was 4.6 points on 4.9 attempts in 13.9 minutes, so he doubled the scoring on fewer shots; no rebounds and no assists in those minutes is what holds it at a B.
Will Richard — B. Ten points on 4-of-6 shooting with 2-of-4 from three in 16 minutes, against a season rate of 4.6 points on 4.1 attempts. The scoring is well above his level and the efficiency is the best among the wings, but he finished with zero rebounds in 16 minutes and was minus-five, the only Warrior in the negative besides Yaxel Lendeborg on a night the team won by 20.
Brandon Williams — B. Ten points on 4-of-7 shooting, 2-of-2 at the line, with four assists and two blocks against two turnovers in 21 minutes. He had been scoring 11.6 a game on 9.0 attempts at .381, so this is the same production on two fewer shots at a much better rate — his job done above his level, in his first game back after missing Monday.
Yaxel Lendeborg Rebounded and Passed Through a Cold Night
Yaxel Lendeborg — B-. 17 points on 6-of-14 shooting with eight rebounds, six assists and three steals against two turnovers in 30 minutes. The rebounding and passing are real and the two turnovers are his cleanest night of the season against a 3.4 average, but 42.9 percent from the field sits well under the .500 he had been shooting, and 17 points on 14 attempts plus six free throws is a thin return for a player averaging 21.5.
He was also minus-one, one of only two Warriors in the negative in a 20-point win, which does not set the grade but does match what the shooting line already says. He scored 37 four nights ago, which is the standard this measures against.
Where a Twenty-Point Win Still Went Quiet
Charles Bassey — C+. Eight points on 3-of-4 shooting with seven rebounds, three of them offensive, and three blocks in 14 minutes — per-minute production above his 6.8 points and 5.0 rebounds a game. The offsetting half of the line is five fouls and three turnovers with no assists in those same 14 minutes, which is a lot of damage from a reserve center and the reason the case for starting him still has to be argued.
Brandin Podziemski — C-. Nine points on 3-of-8 shooting, 2-of-6 from three, with six rebounds, three assists and one turnover in 32 minutes, the most anyone played. His season rate was 17.0 points on 6.2-of-13.3 shooting with 5.0 assists in 33.5 minutes, so he gave roughly half his scoring and three assists against a 5.0 rate in the same workload.
One turnover in 32 minutes means he did no harm, which is what keeps this out of D territory. It is still the quietly poor night that a 20-point win usually hides, and it came from the starter with the most minutes.
De’Anthony Melton — C-. Five points on 1-of-5 shooting and 0-of-4 from three, with three turnovers in 17 minutes, against a season line of 10.6 points on 3.4-of-7.8 shooting and 2.4 threes a night. Six rebounds and three steals are genuine defensive production and are why this is not lower, but the shooting and the turnovers made the offense worse while he was on the floor.
Under the Minutes Floor
Graham Ike played one minute and did not score, taking one rebound. Malevy Leons played one minute without a shot attempt. LJ Cryer played one minute without a shot attempt. All three entered after the result was settled and none is graded.
Did Not Play
Jimmy Butler did not play, listed Out with a right ACL injury. Moses Moody did not play, listed Out with a left patellar tendon injury. Kristaps Porziņģis did not play, listed Out with the reason given as “not with team.” Gui Santos did not play, listed Out with left knee tendinitis.
The Full Line
| Player | MIN | PTS | FG | 3PT | FT | REB | AST | TO | STL | BLK | PF | +/- | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Stephen Curry | 28 | 29 | 9-19 | 6-12 | 5-5 | 1 | 4 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | +17 | A- |
| Georges Niang | 22 | 13 | 5-8 | 2-5 | 1-2 | 4 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | +16 | B+ |
| Draymond Green | 27 | 2 | 1-3 | 0-2 | 0-0 | 5 | 11 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | +13 | B+ |
| Al Horford | 18 | 8 | 3-3 | 2-2 | 0-0 | 5 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | +21 | B+ |
| Gary Payton II | 10 | 9 | 3-3 | 1-1 | 2-2 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | +5 | B |
| Will Richard | 16 | 10 | 4-6 | 2-4 | 0-0 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 | -5 | B |
| Brandon Williams | 21 | 10 | 4-7 | 0-1 | 2-2 | 1 | 4 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 1 | +7 | B |
| Yaxel Lendeborg | 30 | 17 | 6-14 | 1-3 | 4-6 | 8 | 6 | 2 | 3 | 1 | 4 | -1 | B- |
| Charles Bassey | 14 | 8 | 3-4 | 0-1 | 2-2 | 7 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 3 | 5 | +7 | C+ |
| Brandin Podziemski | 32 | 9 | 3-8 | 2-6 | 1-2 | 6 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 3 | +5 | C- |
| De’Anthony Melton | 17 | 5 | 1-5 | 0-4 | 3-4 | 6 | 2 | 3 | 3 | 0 | 1 | +9 | C- |
| Graham Ike | 1 | 0 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | +2 | note |
| Malevy Leons | 1 | 0 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | +2 | note |
| LJ Cryer | 1 | 0 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | +2 | note |
| Team | 238 | 120 | 42-80 | 16-41 | 20-25 | 44 | 36 | 18 | 11 | 9 | 22 |
How We Grade
| Grade | What it means |
|---|---|
| A | Won them the game |
| B | Did his job, at his level or better |
| C | Neutral — present, not decisive |
| D | They were worse for his minutes |
| F | Actively cost them the game |
Grades weigh production against opportunity and against each player’s own rate through 8 games, plus up to half a grade of judgment, noted where used.
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