The Golden State Warriors lost to the Milwaukee Bucks 118-99 on Thursday night, and honestly, it wasn’t that close. It wasn’t even close to being that close. The Dubs spent a good portion of the game trailing by 30 or more points, and were losing by 39 points — 77-38 — at halftime.
That’s how the game will be remembered.
It was brutal. Really brutal. Fun for nobody, save for the fine folks of Milwaukee.
So let’s push through these player grades, weighting for our expectation of each player as always, and going as fast as humanly possible to avoid the pain.
Deep breath in. We can do this. We’ll get through it together.
Andrew Wiggins
28 minutes, 16 points, 2 rebounds, 1 assist, 1 block, 2 turnovers, 1 foul, 6-for-11 shooting, 2-for-5 threes, 2-for-2 free throws, -15
Like most (all?) of the Warriors, Wiggins did essentially nothing in the first half, as the Dubs fell behind by an insurmountable amount. He recovered a bit in the third quarter with a a little offensive rhythm, and finished as the only Warriors to shoot better than 50% from the field.
If we were grading relative to teammates, he’d have a great grade.
Grade: B-
Post-game bonus: Led the team in points.
Kevon Looney
15 minutes, 7 points, 7 rebounds, 1 assist, 1 block, 4 fouls, 2-for-5 shooting, 3-for-6 free throws, -3
Really nothing of note here for Looney. He was the least of the Warriors problems, but he’s a player who looks a lot better when everyone else is playing well, because he’s not going to save you when the offense can’t muster anything.
Grade: B
Steph Curry
29 minutes, 12 points, 8 rebounds, 4 assists, 2 steals, 4 turnovers, 4-for-11 shooting, 2-for-6 threes, 2-for-2 free throws, -25
First off, huge props to Milwaukee, who did a stellar job defending Curry despite the absence of Jrue Holiday, just as the Memphis Grizzlies did on Tuesday without Dillon Brooks.
I wouldn’t say Curry was bad, but … he didn’t have the Curry impact.
Grade: C
Post-game bonus: Led the team in rebounds and assists, worst plus/minus on the team.
Klay Thompson
21 minutes, 11 points, 2 rebounds, 1 assist, 1 steal, 1 turnover, 1 foul, 3-for-11 shooting, 2-for-7 threes, 3-for-3 free throws, -8
We’re still at the point where it’s just good to see Thompson, rather than at the point of evaluating his play. The best thing about this game for Thompson was that, with Steve Kerr knowing the fourth quarter would be only garbage-time minutes, Klay got to play the entire third frame. It was his longest string of uninterrupted minutes by a long shot, and hopefully helped him get some rhythm and conditioning.
He’ll rest on Friday against the Chicago Bulls.
Grade: B-
Gary Payton II
5 minutes, 0 points, 1 rebound, 2 assists, 1 steal, 1 turnover, 1 foul, 0-for-1 shooting, 0-for-1 threes, -12
GP2 started in place of Draymond Green, who remains out until Sunday at the earliest, and unfortunately Payton joined Green after just a few minutes, as he left the game with back tightness and never returned.
Grade: B/incomplete
Nemanja Bjelica
15 minutes, 0 points, 1 rebound, 3 assists, 0-for-7 shooting, 0-for-4 threes, -2
Bjelica is a player who does a lot of the little things, but the best thing he does is shoot, and it’s really hard for him to have a strong impact when putting up a donut in seven attempts.
Grade: C
Jonathan Kuminga
19 minutes, 15 points, 7 rebounds, 1 steal, 1 foul, 5-for-16 shooting, 1-for-3 threes, 4-for-6 free throws, +6
Kuminga’s offense is still a long ways away from reaching a point of quality efficiency, but he certainly showed how many tools he has in his bag — and how much athleticism he has to apply to those tools.
The rookie was a huge part of the Warriors comfortably outscoring Milwaukee in the second half.
Grade: B+
Andre Iguodala
13 minutes, 2 points, 2 rebounds, 1 assist, 1 turnover, 1 foul, 1-for-3 shooting, 0-for-1 threes, -21
Like the rest of the veterans, Iguodala didn’t play much once Kerr decided the outcome of the game was not up for debate. It was mostly a forgettable day for Andre.
Grade: C
Otto Porter Jr.
15 minutes, 8 points, 5 rebounds, 1 assist, 1 steal, 3-for-6 shooting, 2-for-3 threes, -4
Pretty solid game for Porter, who scored efficiently, crashed the grass, did lots of small things and, unlike the team as a whole, didn’t look lost.
Grade: B+
Juan Toscano-Anderson
18 minutes, 9 points, 2 rebounds, 1 assist, 2 steals, 1 turnover, 1 foul, 3-for-6 shooting, 3-for-5 threes, 0-for-2 free throws, -12
Also a decent showing for JTA, after a rough few minutes in Memphis. When Toscano-Anderson makes his jumpers, he can be quite a weapon.
Grade: B
Damion Lee
23 minutes, 7 points, 7 rebounds, 1 assist, 1 steal, 1 turnover, 2 fouls, 3-for-7 shooting, 1-for-3 threes, -12
Big props to Lee for crashing the glass as hard as he did. Those are the kinds of things that can jumpstart a struggling team, even if a Costco shipment of jumper cables wouldn’t have jumpstarted the Dubs on Thursday.
Grade: B
Jordan Poole
24 minutes, 9 points, 3 rebounds, 2 turnovers, 2 fouls, 2-for-7 shooting, 2-for-7 threes, 3-for-3 free throws, +2
Poole certainly didn’t carry the bench offense, as the Warriors are often asking him to do, but he did some pretty nice things in this game. He did a good job of getting quality looks, though they didn’t drop.
Grade: C
Chris Chiozza
14 minutes, 3 points, 2 rebounds, 4 assists, 2 turnovers, 1 foul, 1-for-4 shooting, 1-for-3 threes, +11
Chiozza got one of his most prolonged stretches of minutes this season, as Kerr went with a garbage time lineup for the entire fourth quarter. The Dubs’ two-way contract did some good things, even if no one is likely to remember that portion of the game.
Grade: B+
Post-game bonus: Led the team in assists and plus/minus.
Thursday’s inactives: Draymond Green, Moses Moody, Quinndary Weatherspoon, James Wiseman