Look, I’ll be completely honest with you: I don’t want to write this article. The Golden State Warriors got crushed on Friday night, losing 131-94 to the Oklahoma City Thunder. There’s a good reason for that: the Thunder are the best team in the NBA, and fully healthy, while the Warriors are a mediocre team, and were playing without Steph Curry … and Jimmy Butler III … and Draymond Green (and De’Anthony Melton … and Jonathan Kuminga … and Seth Curry).

As such, the 37-point defeat — Golden State’s worst of the year — was both not as bad as the score would suggest, and also, somehow, not as close as the score would suggest, either. And it’s a bit miserable to spend any extra time dwelling on these types of games, while also being impossible to parse performances from them.

But it feels rude to start the new year without grades, especially since I abandoned them over the holidays (hey, teachers get winter break too, right?). So grade we will, but we’ll do it expeditiously … we all have better things to do. 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 Friday’s games, league-average TS was 58.2%.

26 minutes, 9 points, 8 rebounds, 1 block, 3 turnovers, 1 foul, 2-for-4 shooting, 1-for-3 threes, 4-for-6 free throws, 67.8% TS, -10

Feels a bit silly to give someone the award for “best” plus/minus when the team was outscored by double digits when they were on the court, but hey … that’s the type of basketball game it was. If you ever wonder if Santos can keep up his spark plug energy in a larger role, this game was a reminder: yes. Yes he can. It wasn’t always pretty — the turnovers accurately paint a picture of a player who was at-times out of control — but he was energetic, all over the floor, usually smart with the ball, and did a good job matching OKC’s athleticism. A good game.

Grade: A-
Post-game bonus: Tied for the best plus/minus on the team.

23 minutes, 11 points, 3 rebounds, 2 assists, 1 steal, 1 turnover, 5 fouls, 4-for-10 shooting, 1-for-6 threes, 2-for-2 free throws, 50.6% TS, -21

It’s two steps forward, one step back with Post. He appeared on the verge of a breakout for a while, but has regressed pretty hard over the last handful of games. OKC’s athleticism — especially in this iteration, with Chet Holmgren sliding to the five since Isaiah Hartenstein is injured — really gives him fits. His defense, which was simply superb early in the year, was really having a hard time, and he racked up more fouls than rebounds. Sometimes he shoots so well that it negates that sort of stuff; this wasn’t one of those games, though.

Grade: D+

27 minutes, 13 points, 2 rebounds, 1 steal, 3 turnovers, 3 fouls, 6-for-12 shooting, 1-for-4 threes, 0-for-1 free throws, 52.3% TS, -14

It’s very odd, but Moody appears … unathletic at the moment. He’s looked that way for a little while, and it was starkly on display against one of the league’s most athletic teams, especially with the Warriors needing everyone to step into a bigger role. Moody couldn’t create any separation on offense, struggled on defense, and was a non-factor on the glass. I’m not really sure what’s going on, but it’s a touch concerning. He’s still a solid role player, but … the Warriors need more.

Grade: C-
Post-game bonus: Tied for the team lead in points.

26 minutes, 12 points, 4 rebounds, 4 assists, 1 steal, 1 block, 1 turnover, 1 foul, 4-for-13 shooting, 1-for-4 threes, 3-for-5 free throws, 39.5% TS, -10

I always enjoy watching Podziemski in these types of games. He’s so scrappy and pesky, it’s always fun seeing how he’ll respond to the challenge of a game the team has no business winning. He definitely stuck his nose in things … he was on the receiving end of a whole lot of contact, sometimes with the call going his way, sometimes with it going the other way, and sometimes with there not being a whistle at all. He definitely went home with some bruises and scratches, and he was one-half of a two-man run in the second-quarter that gave the Warriors life for the first — and last — time.

He also couldn’t shoot to save his soul, and I’m not sure how to balance that against some of the good things he did.

Grade: C+
Post-game bonus: Tied for the best plus/minus on the team.

27 minutes, 13 points, 5 rebounds, 1 assist, 1 steal, 1 turnover, 0 fouls, 5-for-15 shooting, 2-for-6 threes, 1-for-1 free throws, 42.1% TS, -19

There were a lot of similarities between the games that Richard and Podziemski had. They tag-teamed the 9-0 run in the second quarter that made the game interesting. They both played hard and scrappy and punched back when they were hit in the face. They both played in control … two young players combining for just two turnovers and one foul in this sort of game is tremendously impressive. And they both struggled tremendously to score.

It’s hard to blame either player much for that, given that they were forced into much bigger roles, against a defense that is far, far, far and away the best in the league. And Richard — a late second-round rookie — especially gets a pass on that front.

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

24 minutes, 7 points, 9 rebounds, 3 assists, 1 steal, 1 block, 1 turnover, 3 fouls, 1-for-6 shooting, 5-for-6 free throws, 40.5% TS, -22

Gotta credit TJD for his tenacity in this game. He — like everyone on the team — was struggling with OKC’s size and athleticism around the rim, and couldn’t score to save his soul. But he kept trying, and eventually earned trips to the free throw line as a result. Like Santos, he wouldn’t give up on the glass, and it was great watching him fight for every possible rebound.

There was a lot to like, even if the shooting numbers were unsightly.

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

16 minutes, 13 points, 6 rebounds, 2 blocks, 1 turnover, 1 foul, 4-for-6 shooting, 3-for-5 threes, 2-for-2 free throws, 94.5% TS, -15

Don’t look now, but Horford is really starting to resemble the trusty, savvy, ultra-talented veteran that the Warriors were so excited to sign this offseason. That certainly isn’t enough to win a game like this, but it sure can be enough to win a whole lot of games when the team is actually healthy. This is a fantastic development.

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

24 minutes, 11 points, 2 rebounds, 1 assist, 2 steals, 2 turnovers, 3 fouls, 4-for-11 shooting, 3-for-9 threes, 50.0% TS, -18

It wasn’t a particularly bad game, per se, but it certainly wasn’t enough to feel like Hield will be returning to a steady rotation role once the team is healthy. He just kind of was. He played tough, he made some shots, he missed some shots, he made some mistakes. It was kind of just A Game.

Grade: C

16 minutes, 2 points, 1 rebound, 1 assist, 1-for-5 shooting, 0-for-3 threes, 20.0% TS, -15

It was nice and impressive seeing a player not have a turnover or a foul in this game. Unfortunately, that’s really the only good thing that can be said about GPII’s performance.

Grade: C-

31 minutes, 3 points, 3 rebounds, 11 assists, 1 steal, 3 turnovers, 1 foul, 1-for-8 shooting, 1-for-4 threes, 18.8% TS, -41

I would like to formally nominate Spencer for funniest stat line of the year. He came off the bench to lead the team in minutes — by a sizable margin — presumably because Steve Kerr liked the way the offense ran with Spencer on the court. He shot 1-for-8 from the field, and most of the misses were fairly atrocious, and reminded me a tiny bit too much of myself in my high school playing days. He dished out 11 assists … far more than anyone else on either side, including the likely soon-to-be back-to-back MVP point guard on the other team. His plus/minus was nearly twice as bad as anyone else on the team.

Just a bizarre game. I’ll give him a grade near the middle, I guess.

Grade: B-
Post-game bonus: Led the team in assists, worst plus/minus on the team.

Friday’s inactives: Jimmy Butler III, LJ Cryer, Seth Curry, Steph Curry, Draymond Green, Jonathan Kuminga, Malevy Leons, De’Anthony Melton