Player grades: Warriors vs. Rockets Game 7

Assessing every Golden State player in the team’s 103-89 win over Houston.

Well, the Golden State Warriors sure gave us a scare before reminding us of how good they are. After squandering Games 5 and 6 and looking out of effort, energy, and rhythm, the Warriors bounced back on Sunday night, going on the road for a statement Game 7 win over the Houston Rockets, winning 103-89 to advance to the Western Conference Semifinals.

Now that looked more like the Warriors we were optimistic about entering the playoffs.

The red pen has a lot of good grades in it today. 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 this season was 57.6%.

Buddy Hield

37 minutes, 33 points, 3 rebounds, 3 assists, 1 steal, 2 blocks, 1 foul, 12-for-15 shooting, 9-for-11 threes, 110.0% TS, +17

Well … Hield sure chose a fantastic time to have the best game of his career.

There’s really not much to say other than this: 11/10, no notes. When the offense couldn’t score at all in the first quarter, Hield could. When they started to lose momentum, he made a half-court buzzer-beater to end the first quarter. When Steph Curry was sitting on zero points with the first half winding to an end, Hield was scoring, and scoring, and scoring.

He couldn’t miss. He did a brilliant job getting open for good looks, and converting his difficult looks. And to top it all off, he kept the ball moving, played incredible defense, and didn’t commit a turnover. Truly a perfect game for Buddy.

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

Jimmy Butler III

45 minutes, 20 points, 8 rebounds, 7 assists, 1 steal, 1 turnover, 1 foul, 7-for-13 shooting, 2-for-3 threes, 4-for-5 free throws, 65.8% TS, +10

Butler still isn’t fully healthy, but it’s hard to imagine a player doing a better job gutting through it. He played all but 3:20 of about as physical of a game as is imaginable, and made a profound impact in every single phase of the game. Elite defense. Elite playmaking. Elite rebounding.

And, once again, with the game hanging in the balance late, he took over and took it to the Rockets, showing Houston time and time again that they could not stop him.

Maybe it would just be an “A” grade in a normal game, given how high the bar is for the future Hall of Famer. But given everything … the stakes, the workload, the injury … there’s only one grade that captures how amazing Butler was in his first Game 7 with the Warriors.

Grade: A+
Post-game bonus: Tied for the team lead in assists.

Draymond Green

40 minutes, 16 points, 6 rebounds, 5 assists, 1 steal, 2 blocks, 1 turnover, 4 fouls, 7-for-15 shooting, 2-for-8 threes, 53.3% TS, +18

Before the game began, Green had already stamped his good grade. Steve Kerr said after the game that Green had addressed the team on Saturday and taken responsibility for losing his composure and letting the team down on Friday. Green said after the game that he spent the last two days “embarrassed at what I gave to the game, gave to the world.”

There’s a saying in the NFL, that you don’t win the game on Sunday, you win it Monday through Saturday. And Draymond won the game on Saturday. He showed up to the arena right on Sunday. He scored the first five points of the game. He was locked in on both ends of the court every single minute he was on the floor. He was remarkably composed … even the technical foul he got felt just like the heat of an intense and physical battle, and not any loss of composure.

He scored often, and was far more efficient than the box score suggests, as he had lots of late-in-the-shot-clock hoists to try and bail the offense out. And it was about as good of a defensive performance as you will ever see. Alperen Şengün shot just 9-for-23 from the field, and looked completely defeated in the fourth quarter, and Green was the biggest reason why.

A focused, composed, and motivated Green can be the difference between the Warriors flaming out and going very deep into the playoffs.

Grade: A+
Post-game bonus: Best plus/minus on the team.

Brandin Podziemski

40 minutes, 9 points, 3 rebounds, 2 assists, 1 block, 2 turnovers, 2 fouls, 4-for-12 shooting, 1-for-7 threes, 37.5% TS, +5

The Warriors rode their starters hard in this game, though Podziemski was the least effective by far. Still, there’s a reason that he played 40 minutes. His defense was strong, and he kept the defense honest by taking the open shots they gave him … even though he wasn’t making many of them. He’s a great competitor, and that was enough on this night.

Grade: B-

Steph Curry

46 minutes, 22 points, 10 rebounds, 7 assists, 2 steals, 2 blocks, 2 turnovers, 3 fouls, 8-for-16 shooting, 4-for-10 threes, 2-for-2 free throws, 65.2% TS, +16

It’s hard to believe the Warriors were in control of a must-win game for almost the entirety of it, despite Curry not scoring until the final minute of the second quarter. That’s a testament to his teammates, but it’s also a testament to how much Curry did outside of scoring.

He didn’t force anything, and trusted the game plan of letting his open teammates make shots. He kept the ball moving. He kept moving without the ball. He made Houston defend him with all their might, which created opportunities for everyone. He was an absolute menace on the glass, grabbing 10 rebounds — all defensive — to help keep the Rockets’ offensive rebounding in check. And he played perhaps his best defensive game of the season.

And then, in the second half, he dialed up the offense and put the Rockets away. All while playing almost the entire game.

Just jaw-dropping. His control of the game is nothing short of masterful.

Grade: A+
Post-game bonus: Led the team in rebounds, tied for the team lead in assists.

Jonathan Kuminga

7 minutes, 0 points, 1 rebound, 1 steal, 1 turnover, 0-for-4 shooting, 0-for-1 threes, 0.0% TS, -4

Kuminga got some run in the first and third quarters, which wasn’t surprising, even though he’d been getting DNP-CDs lately. Kerr said after the Game 6 loss that they would have to consider playing Kuminga, and when Gary Payton II was ruled out with an illness, it became inevitable.

JK played offense like someone who hasn’t been on the court lately. He was rusty, out of rhythm, and lacking in confidence. But I thought he did a lot of really good things on the defensive end, and also did a good job boxing out.

I’d like to see him have a more steady role against the Timberwolves.

Grade: C+
Post-game bonus: Worst plus/minus on the team.

Kevon Looney

11 minutes, 3 points, 4 rebounds, 1 block, 2 fouls, 1-for-2 shooting, 1-for-2 free throws, 52.1% TS, 0 +/-

Kerr also said after Game 6 that Looney was likely to play more, given how much trust they have in him. And that trust was rewarded. Looney was rock solid, helping stabilize the glass and the interior defense. He was also the only Warriors bench player to score, which is pretty wild.

Grade: B+

Moses Moody

11 minutes, 0 points, 3 rebounds, 1 foul, 0-for-5 shooting, 0-for-3 threes, 0.0% TS, +6

Moody has not been playing very well in this series, and this game might have been his worst outing yet. He just looked lost. He wasn’t playing with confidence or aggression on offense, and he looked timid and a step slow on defense.

No harm, no foul in this series, but the Warriors need a whole lot more from him against Minnesota.

Grade: C-

Quinten Post

3 minutes, 0 points, +2

Post was a non-factor in this game, with the Warriors playing Draymond such heavy minutes and leaning on Looney more. He’ll play a big role in the semifinals, I’d guess.

Grade: Incomplete

Pat Spencer, Gui Santos, and Trayce Jackson-Davis

9 seconds, 0 +/-

Nine seconds of garbage time!

Grade: Incomplete

Sunday’s DNP-CDs: Braxton Key, Kevin Knox II

Sunday’s inactives: Gary Payton II