![\"Al](\"https:\/\/wp.clutchpoints.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/Horford-shoots.jpg\")
<\/p>\nLook, I\u2019ll be completely honest with you: I don\u2019t want to write this article. The Golden State Warriors got crushed on Friday night, losing 131-94 to the Oklahoma City Thunder. There\u2019s 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 \u2026 and Jimmy Butler III \u2026 and Draymond Green (and De\u2019Anthony Melton \u2026 and Jonathan Kuminga \u2026 and Seth Curry).<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
As such, the 37-point defeat \u2014 Golden State\u2019s worst of the year \u2014 was both not as bad as the score would suggest, and also, somehow, not as close as the score would suggest, either. And it\u2019s a bit miserable to spend any extra time dwelling on these types of games, while also being impossible to parse performances from them.<\/p>\n
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\u2019ll do it expeditiously \u2026 we all have better things to do. As always, grades are based on my expectations for each player, with a \u201cB\u201d grade representing the average performance for that player.<\/p>\n
Note: True-shooting percentage (TS) is a scoring efficiency metric that accounts for threes and free throws. Entering Friday\u2019s games, league-average TS was 58.2%.<\/em><\/p>\n 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<\/em><\/p>\n Feels a bit silly to give someone the award for \u201cbest\u201d plus\/minus when the team was outscored by double digits when they were on the court, but hey \u2026 that\u2019s 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\u2019t always pretty \u2014 the turnovers accurately paint a picture of a player who was at-times out of control \u2014 but he was energetic, all over the floor, usually smart with the ball, and did a good job matching OKC\u2019s athleticism. A good game.<\/p>\n Grade: <\/em>A-<\/strong> 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<\/em><\/p>\n It\u2019s 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\u2019s athleticism \u2014 especially in this iteration, with Chet Holmgren sliding to the five since Isaiah Hartenstein is injured \u2014 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\u2019t one of those games, though.<\/p>\n Grade: <\/em>D+<\/strong><\/p>\n 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<\/em><\/p>\n It\u2019s very odd, but Moody appears \u2026 unathletic at the moment. He\u2019s looked that way for a little while, and it was starkly on display against one of the league\u2019s most athletic teams, especially with the Warriors needing everyone to step into a bigger role. Moody couldn\u2019t create any separation on offense, struggled on defense, and was a non-factor on the glass. I\u2019m not really sure what\u2019s going on, but it\u2019s a touch concerning. He\u2019s still a solid role player, but \u2026 the Warriors need more.<\/p>\n Grade: <\/em>C-<\/strong> 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<\/em><\/p>\n I always enjoy watching Podziemski in these types of games. He\u2019s so scrappy and pesky, it\u2019s always fun seeing how he\u2019ll respond to the challenge of a game the team has no business winning. He definitely stuck his nose in things \u2026 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 \u2014 and last \u2014 time.<\/p>\n He also couldn\u2019t shoot to save his soul, and I\u2019m not sure how to balance that against some of the good things he did.<\/p>\n Grade: <\/em>C+<\/strong> 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<\/em><\/p>\n 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 \u2026 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.<\/p>\n It\u2019s 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 <\/em>and away the best in the league. And Richard \u2014 a late second-round rookie \u2014 especially gets a pass on that front.<\/p>\n Grade: <\/em>B<\/strong> 24 minutes, 7 points, 9 rebounds,<\/em> 3 assists, 1 steal, 1 block, 1 turnover, 3 fouls, 1-for-6 shooting, 5-for-6 free throws, 40.5% TS, -22<\/em><\/p>\n Gotta credit TJD for his tenacity in this game. He \u2014 like everyone on the team \u2014 was struggling with OKC\u2019s size and athleticism around the rim, and couldn\u2019t 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\u2019t give up on the glass, and it was great watching him fight for every possible rebound.<\/p>\n There was a lot to like, even if the shooting numbers were unsightly.<\/p>\n Grade: <\/em>B<\/strong> 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<\/em><\/p>\n Don\u2019t 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\u2019t enough to win a game like this<\/em>, but it sure can be enough to win a whole lot of games when the team is actually healthy. This is a fantastic development.<\/p>\n Grade: <\/em>A+<\/strong> 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<\/em><\/p>\n It wasn\u2019t a particularly bad game, per se, but it certainly wasn\u2019t 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.<\/p>\n Grade: <\/em>C<\/strong><\/p>\n 16 minutes, 2 points, 1 rebound, 1 assist, 1-for-5 shooting, 0-for-3 threes, 20.0% TS, -15<\/em><\/p>\n It was nice and impressive seeing a player not have a turnover or a foul in this game. Unfortunately, that\u2019s really the only good thing that can be said about GPII\u2019s performance.<\/p>\n Grade: <\/em>C-<\/strong><\/p>\n 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<\/em><\/p>\n 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 \u2014 by a sizable margin \u2014 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 \u2026 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 <\/em>as bad as anyone else on the team.<\/p>\n Just a bizarre game. I\u2019ll give him a grade near the middle, I guess.<\/p>\n Grade: <\/em>B-<\/strong> Friday\u2019s inactives: <\/strong>Jimmy Butler III, LJ Cryer, Seth Curry, Steph Curry, Draymond Green, Jonathan Kuminga, Malevy Leons, De\u2019Anthony Melton<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Look, I\u2019ll be completely honest with you: I don\u2019t want to write this article. The Golden State Warriors got crushed on Friday night, losing 131-94 to the… <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":8,"featured_media":133600,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-133599","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-nba"],"yoast_head":"\n
\nPost-game bonus: <\/em><\/strong>Tied for the best plus\/minus on the team.<\/p>\n![\"Warriors](\"https:\/\/www.talkbasket.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/Al-Horford.webp\")
<\/p>\n
\nPost-game bonus: <\/em><\/strong>Tied for the team lead in points.<\/p>\n
\nPost-game bonus: <\/em><\/strong>Tied for the best plus\/minus on the team.<\/p>\n
\nPost-game bonus: <\/em><\/strong>Tied for the team lead in points.<\/p>\n
\nPost-game bonus: <\/em><\/strong>Led the team in rebounds.<\/p>\n
\nPost-game bonus: <\/em><\/strong>Tied for the team lead in points.<\/p>\n
\nPost-game bonus: <\/em><\/strong>Led the team in assists, worst plus\/minus on the team.<\/p>\n