Player grades: Warriors vs. Bulls

Assessing every Golden State player’s performance from the team’s 131-106 win over Chicago.

The Golden State Warriors gave us a little bit of a scare Thursday night, looking lethargic and uninterested as they fell behind the Chicago Bulls 20-6 early. And then they turn things around in a massive way, building up a double-digit third-quarter lead, and turning things into a blowout early in the fourth quarter. The end result was a 131-106 victory, one of the most fun games in recent memory, and a coming out party for a few youngsters.

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. Entering Thursday’s games, league-average TS was 57.4%.

Andrew Wiggins

29 minutes, 17 points, 7 rebounds, 1 assist, 1 turnover, 4-for-11 shooting, 1-for-4 threes, 8-for-8 free throws, 58.5% TS, +7

Oh, I sure do love it when Wiggins plays offense with aggression, and that’s exactly what he did on Thursday night. He was relentless attacking the hoop, forcing Chicago’s defense into sorts, drawing contact, and living at the free throw line (where he made all eight shots!).

That aggression showed up in his defense and his rebounding, too. A quietly awesome game.

Grade: A-

Gary Payton II

11 minutes, 3 points, 2 rebounds, 1 block, 1 turnover, 1 foul, 1-for-3 shooting, 1-for-2 threes, 50.0% TS, -16

GPII got the start, but it didn’t go very well. His lack of offense hurt the Dubs, and Chicago didn’t have any ball-handlers who were doing enough damage for Payton’s defense to be utilized. When the second half began, Payton was on the bench.

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

Trayce Jackson-Davis

10 minutes, 4 points, 4 rebounds, 3 assists, 1 foul, 1-for-1 shooting, 2-for-2 free throws, 106.4% TS, -5

In a reversal of what happened on Wednesday night, TJD got the start but was replaced by Kevon Looney at halftime. It’s unclear if that was due to how well the Warriors played when Looney was on the court, or if Jackson-Davis’ ankle — which left him questionable going into the game — was acting up. Either way, he did some awesome things on offense, while not having his best game on defense. But all around, a steady performance.

Grade: B

Buddy Hield

19 minutes, 3 points, 2 rebounds, 2 assists, 1 steal, 1 block, 1 turnover, 3 fouls, 1-for-7 shooting, 0-for-5 threes, 1-for-1 free throws, 20.2% TS, -2

A very rough shooting game for Hield, though he did a lot of little things well. Not well enough to make up for the roughness of the shooting, though. It was just the 12th time in his career that he attempted at least five threes without making one.

Grade: C

Steph Curry

31 minutes, 21 points, 4 rebounds, 7 assists, 3 turnovers, 8-for-19 shooting, 5-for-12 threes, 55.3% TS, +4

If you need to know how well the bench played, well ... I’m guessing there aren’t many times in Curry’s career where he’s just a +4 in a 25-point win. Curry played well though, quarterbacking the offense and steadying the ship late in the game to make sure there wouldn’t be another late-game collapse like there was in Sacramento.

I’ll give him a half-grade boost for playing in a back-to-back, too — something he hadn’t done since November 22 and 23.

Grade: B
Post-game bonus: Led the team in points, tied for the team lead in assists.

Kevon Looney

19 minutes, 4 points, 11 rebounds, 5 assists, 2 fouls, 2-for-7 shooting, 28.6% TS, +17

Fantastic defense, fantastic rebounding, fantastic effort, fantastic screens, fantastic toughness. I love Kevon Looney.

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

Gui Santos

27 minutes, 19 points, 7 rebounds, 1 assist, 1 steal, 1 turnover, 2 fouls, 7-for-10 shooting, 5-for-6 threes, 95.0% TS, +31

Not to like ... ruin the surprise or anything ... but ... y’all ... I do not think Santos was a flash in the pan. I think he is a quite good basketball player who is going to be a very big prat of the Warriors for the foreseeable future.

He’ll cool down, of course. He’s 18-for-39 on threes, including 9-for-11 in the last two nights. But other than that, this looks sustainable. He has a gorgeous shooting stroke, his defense has been fantastic, his instincts are strong, he fits the system, and he works his butt off on every possession.

This dude is awesome.

Grade: A+

Moses Moody

25 minutes, 16 points, 3 rebounds, 4 assists, 4 blocks, 2 fouls, 6-for-10 shooting, 4-for-7 threes, 80.0% TS, +33

Moody is getting to play a lot with the Warriors having so many injuries. And you can see the confidence growing. The way he’s catching and shooting just oozes confidence, and it’s bleeding into other parts of his game. He passed the ball like a confident point guard. He blocked shots (four in 25 minutes!) like he’s been doing it since day one. It was one of the best games he’s ever played, and you can see him realizing he belongs.

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

Dennis Schröder

20 minutes, 11 points, 2 rebounds, 7 assists, 1 turnover, 4 fouls, 4-for-11 shooting, 1-for-4 threes, 2-for-2 free throws, 46.3% TS, +27

I still expect Schröder to return to the starting lineup at some point, and think that he’s in the reserve role in large part to take pressure off him while he gets acclimated to his new team and system. But it is nice seeing him run the second unit, which he did really well on Thursday, even though he didn’t score efficiently, and had a few poor fouls.

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

Brandin Podziemski

21 minutes, 10 points, 4 rebounds, 2 assists, 1 steal, 1 turnover, 2 fouls, 4-for-6 shooting, 2-for-4 threes, 83.3% TS, +22

Oh, was it great to see Podz back on the court after a 12-game injury absence! He looked recharged and like he’d learned from some of his early-season struggles. He ran the offense well, made shots, and had his typical pesky defense (he even drew a charge, because of course he did).

Just wonderful having him back.

Grade: B+

Quinten Post

20 minutes, 20 points, 5 rebounds, 3 assists, 1 block, 1 turnover, 4 fouls, 7-for-12 shooting, 5-for-10 threes, 1-for-1 free throws, 80.4% TS, +13

And now we arrive at our star of the night. We all know Post’s story. The 52nd pick in June’s draft. On a two-way contract. Entered this game having played in just five NBA games, and logged just 41 minutes. Had never played with Steph Curry, in a game, scrimmage, or practice, until Wednesday’s game.

And in his second such game, he balled out. Holy smokes did he ball out. I was really impressed by his defense, and how well he moved his feet, even if he’ll need to adjust to NBA speed and whistles to avoid fouls. He looked comfortable switched onto the perimeter. He kept offensive rebounds alive and put a body on Bulls to let teammates grab boards. He had great touch around the rim.

And did I mention the five made threes for a seven-footer thing???

Welcome to the Warriors, Quinten. You are now a part of the rotation, and a damn fun part, I might add.

Grade: A++

Lindy Waters III

6 minutes, 3 points, 1 rebound, 1 assist, 1-for-3 shooting, 1-for-3 threes, 50.0% TS, -1

Just a little garbage time for Waters, whose spot in the rotation is probably mostly gone now that Podziemsi and Payton are healthy. He’ll be needed again at some point though. That’s how it always goes.

Grade: Incomplete

Pat Spencer

3 minutes, 0 points, 1 rebound, 0-for-2 shooting, 0.0% TS, -5

Just a little garbage time for Spencer, too.

Grade: Incomplete

Thursday’s inactives: Kyle Anderson, Draymond Green, Jonathan Kuminga