The Golden State Warriors kept the early-season good times going on Friday night, improving on their Wednesday loss to the Portland Trail Blazers with a lopsided loss to the Utah Jazz to post a 127-86 win and a perfect 2- 2 to take home. 0 road trip to start the season. It’s a great time to be a Warriors fan!

So let’s start reviewing the happy times. As always, these grades are based on my expectations for each player, with a “B” grade representing that individual player’s average performance.

Note: True-shooting percentage (TS) is a scoring efficiency measure that takes into account threes and free throws. Last year the league average TS was 58.0%.

Draymond Green

20 minutes, 3 points, 2 rebounds, 4 assists, 3 steals, 2 turnovers, 3 fouls, 1-for-4 shooting, 1-for-2 threes, 37.5% TS, +12

Draymond’s stats aren’t very good. So I’m going to give you another statistical rule to look at instead.

27 minutes, 13 points, 4-for-17 shooting, -17

That’s the stat line for Warriors offseason goalie Lauri Markkanen. Everyone who took turns guarding Markkanen did a great job, but no one did better than the player who drew the first assignment, Groen. Markkanen simply never got into the mood and looked uncomfortable all night. For that reason alone it was a good evening for Dray, even if things didn’t go so well for the rest.

Grade: B

Jonathan Kuminga

18 minutes, 2 points, 1 rebound, 1 assist, 1 block, 1-for-5 shooting, 0-for-1 threes, 20.0% TS, +8

Steve Kerr isn’t going to overreact to bad things after two games. And he certainly won’t after the Warriors won those two games by a combined 77 points.

But the controversial starting lineup was the closest the Warriors came to a weakness over the first few games, and Kuminga was quite clearly the weakest link in that. The unit is struggling with spacing and Kuminga isn’t getting the transition opportunities or pushing back layups that he had so often in the preseason.

It’s way too early to panic, but whether it’s because of what he’s doing or the lineup design, Kuminga is just not playing well right now.

Grade: D
Post-game bonus: Tied for worst team plus/minus.

Trayce Jackson Davis

17 minutes, 12 points, 9 rebounds, 2 assists, 1 turnover, 3 fouls, 6-for-6 shooting, 100.0% TS, +12

In case you didn’t watch the game and missed Bob Fitzgerald and Kelenna Azubuike playing, TJD hasn’t missed a single shot this season. He’s a perfect 11-for-11 from the field, though a terrible (for comparison’s sake only) 4-for-5 from the charity stripe.

He got a lot of his buckets in this game by hustling. He also got plenty of rebounds by hustling, as he devoured nine in just 17 minutes.

The Warriors still have some figuring out to do in terms of offense in the starting unit, but the spacing issue is at least mitigated by Jackson-Davis’ phenomenal rim-running game.

Andreas Wiggins

23 minutes, 10 points, 13 rebounds, 5 assists, 2 blocks, 1 turnover, 4 fouls, 3-for-10 shooting, 2-for-4 threes, 2-for-2 free throws, 46.0% TS, + 17

One of the biggest storylines for the Warriors this season has been Wiggins’ performance. Is he the player he was in 2021-2022, when he dominated on defense and glass in the NBA Finals and was an All-Star starter? Is he the player he was in 2022-2023, when he took a big step backward? Or is he the player he was in 2023-2024, when he was arguably one of the worst rotation players in the NBA?

The early returns are in and they look fantastic. Wiggins was athletic and energetic in this game, flying all over the court for defensive help, deflections, loose balls and rebounds. He played with controlled urgency, didn’t let the ball stagnate and was unstoppable on the glass.

Those are the Wiggins that can take this team to another level.

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

Steph Curry

27 minutes, 20 points, 3 rebounds, 4 assists, 2 steals, 3 turnovers, 3 fouls, 7-for-20 shooting, 4-for-13 threes, 2-for-2 free throws, 47.9% TS, + 22

Not the best night for Curry, but he continues to do a great job putting his teammates in position to succeed so they can start the year strong. He will come back to help him on his way.

But really, just not much to talk about for The Chef here. He didn’t do anything of note and struggled with his shot. However, his gravitas still makes him one of the most valuable players on the field, even if it wasn’t his best performance.

Grade: C

Kevon Looney

13 minutes, 9 points, 10 rebounds, 1 assist, 1 block, 1 turnover, 2 fouls, 4-for-6 shooting, 1-for-2 free throws, 65.4% TS, +12

Buddy Hield is rightly credited with helping the Warriors find their rhythm in the first half after a slow start. But Looney certainly deserves a lot of praise too.

The Warriors looked like a different team: louder team – as soon as Looney took the field. He played stubbornly, refusing to let Jazz players score and refusing to let missed shots be taken. It was a gritty performance, and one the Warriors needed.

Grade: A

Lindy Waters III

7 minutes, 6 points, 1 rebound, 1 assist, 2-for-3 shooting, 2-for-3 threes, 100.0% TS, +11

Thanks to the Warriors not having a single competitive minute in the fourth quarter this year, we’ve seen Waters play a bit even if he’s out of the rotation. He showed up in preseason and has done so so far to start the year. It remains pretty clear that when he gets the opportunity at a more meaningful time, he will be ready.

Grade: A

Gui Santos

6 minutes, 0 points, 3 rebounds, 1 steal, 1 turnover, 2 fouls, +9

Santos, the other player on the list currently out of the rotation, has also gotten some valuable playing time. He’s still learning and adapting to the NBA game, so these are valuable reps for him.

Grade: B-

Kyle Anderson

18 minutes, 7 points, 6 rebounds, 3 assists, 2 steals, 3-for-7 shooting, 1-for-4 threes, 50.0% TS, +18

My overwhelming conclusion from two games of watching Anderson on the Warriors is that it is just an absolute joy to have players who do almost everything well on the court. Of course, Slo Mo might not pad the box score, and yes, he might have a slightly ugly jumper.

But he almost never does anything that makes you think, “Why did he do that?” He never lets you pull out your hair. He’s always where the loose ball is, or the rebound is, or the pass is. He’s just such an intelligent and dashing player.

Quality: A-

Friend Loved

20 minutes, 27 points, 4 rebounds, 6 assists, 1 steal, 10-for-14 shooting, 7-for-9 threes, 96.4% TS, +24

And here we are. The star of the show. When Hield came into the game, the Warriors were struggling. From the moment he checked in until the final buzzer, they had no more trouble.

He was thoroughly dominant, scoring 24 points in the first half. By the time he checked in for the second half, the outcome was already decided.

Hield proved he can be an electric scorer in this system, which the Warriors have been desperate to find. But just as importantly, he proved he can impact the game in other ways. While it felt like he was scoring every time he touched the ball, he also provided six assists without turning the ball over. He pushed the ball in transition, played good defense and crashed the glass.

Just greatness all around.

Grade: A+
Post-game bonus: Led the team in points and assists and had the highest plus/minus on the team.

Gary Payton II

13 minutes, 4 points, 1 rebound, 2 assists, 3 steals, 1 foul, 2-for-3 shooting, 0-for-1 threes, 66.7% TS, +10

Three steals in 13 minutes. There is rarely a game where Payton comes into action and doesn’t have a noticeable impact on the defense. What a luxury to have a twelve-man rotation, where GPII can be deployed in short bursts to absolutely torment opponents.

Grade: B+

De’Anthony Melton

14 minutes, 0 points, 1 rebound, 4 assists, 1 block, 2 turnovers, 5 fouls, 0-for-4 shooting, 0-for-3 threes, 0.0% TS, +8

It’s been a slow start to his Warriors tenure for Melton, but that’s nothing to worry about. He is more than proven.

He did a lot of good things in this game, keeping the ball moving and moving without the ball, and driving the defense. But he struggled to score, had a few turnovers and worst of all, almost made a mistake in just 14 minutes of action.

Grade: D+
Post-game bonus: Tied for worst team plus/minus.

Moses Moody

19 minutes, 12 points, 1 rebound, 1 assist, 2 steals, 2 turnovers, 5-for-10 shooting, 2-for-5 threes, 60.0% TS, +18

Moody may be the 12th of the 12 players in the rotation entering the game on any given night, but you’d be hard-pressed to argue that he’s the 12th most important player on the team… and his minutes certainly aren’t 12th either, although he does get some of them in garbage time, as the Dubs don’t have enough non-rotational players to field a garbage time unit.

His excellent preseason has carried over into the regular season. He shoots more than ever and is aggressive, but goal-oriented. His defense remains strong, and even though he had two turnovers in this game, he rarely makes bad plays.

He just keeps getting better and better.

Grade: B+

Brandin Podziemski

24 minutes, 15 points, 5 rebounds, 1 assist, 1 steal, 1 block, 2 fouls, 7-for-14 shooting, 1-for-5 threes, 53.6% TS, +24

After putting up a donut in the season opener, Podziemski came back with 15 points in this game…and once again led the team in plus/minus. A young guard playing 24 minutes without turning the ball over is something special, and Podz has continued his trend of simply making good things happen on the court… on both ends.

Perhaps most importantly, the team’s speed skyrockets when he enters the game. It feels like every possession is a transition opportunity for Podziemski, and it opens up so much for his teammates.

Grade: B+
Post-game bonus: Tie for the best plus/minus of the team.

Friday’s inactives: Reece Beekman, Quinten Post, Pat Spencer