SAP CENTER, SAN JOSE, CA — Here’s player-by-player breakdown of the Golden State Warriors roster, from the 95-87 win over the Toronto Raptors last night:
Point Guards
Stephen Curry: Had a #StephGonnaSteph moment early on after missing his first two three-point attempts. Fouled out in the 3rd quarter, but interim head coach Luke Walton had said all starters were going to be taken out in the third quarter, so Curry would have stayed in the game “only a couple of minutes” more had he not fouled out, which served as the impetus for keeping him in with five personal fouls. The fouls were not egregious. Curry was just being aggressive and actually made a couple of great one-on-one disruptions against his counterpart, Cory Joseph. Joseph started in place of the injured Kyle Lowry. Tallied 4 turnovers, but 2 of them were offensive fouls.
Shaun Livingston: Did not shoot any threes, but overall had a good game controlling the tempo, especially with Curry fouling out early.
Ian Clark: Very limited time with just 8 minutes played. Handled the point guard position momentarily, but not enough to really make an assessment of potential.
Juwan Staten, the third- and possibly fourth-string point guard, if you count Clark as a table-setter, did not play.
Shooting Guards
Klay Thompson: Ended up with the most shots taken on the team (12), but also the most minutes played (26). He was 0-for-3 from downtown and 5-for-12 from the field overall. He said he wanted to get more rebounds this season and he did, with 4 (Green and Rush led the team with 6).
Leandro Barbosa: Scored a team-high 15 points on 7-for-9 field as he easily streaked by the discombobulated second string of Toronto.
Ben Gordon: Missed both his attempts and, although he tallied zero assists, made two very good passes after drawing defenders and generally played unselfishly. Played 6 minutes, the fewest on the team.
Chris Babb, Jarell Eddie, Tony Mitchell all did not play and are vying for the third-string shooting guard spot.
Small Forwards
Harrison Barnes: Just 1-for-5 from the field and 0-for-1 from beyond the arc, but attacked the basket and drew 4 free throws, all of which he made. A quiet night again for Barnes.
Andre Iguodala: Made one trey, missed three other shots, but dished out 4 assists and made high-IQ plays on defense, slapping the ball away and getting steals that led to fast breaks. On one play he ran back to thwart a fast break by the Raptors, tapping the ball up and out of bounds instead of the more instinctive downward motion.
Brandon Rush: With McAdoo seemingly a lock for the 2nd unit, was the first “fringe” (read: third-string) player off the bench. Looked confident and spry, drilling two jumpers in a row, one of them a three-pointer. Even handled the ball impressively as he dribbled out the shotclock while semi-stuck just past halfcourt.
Power Forwards
Draymond Green: Led the team in assists with 5, missed a contested right-handed banker layup which he was mad at himself about, and played good defense, disrupting an Anthony Bennett drive, although ending up with no blocked shots.
Marreese Speights: Provided energy off the bench and shooting, as Warrior fans have come to expect. Had a nice backdoor laser pass to a cutting Leandro Barbosa. 5-for-9 overall from the field, but late in the game had a couple of ugly turnovers. Still, his putback of a missed three by Ben Gordon was the final nail in the Raptors’ coffin.
Kevon Looney: Was in street clothes, did not play, and is rehabbing and out for a matter of months due to right hip surgery. Expected to be assigned to the Santa Cruz Warriors upon his return.
Center
Andrew Bogut: His offense still left much to be desired, with the shot-put left hand barely drawing on just 2 attempts. Although he also had zero blocked shots, he helped disrupt as usual at the rim and, on offense, provided 4 assists, including a pretty backdoor bounce pass to Thompson.
Festus Ezeli: Led the team along with Green with 6 rebounds, but in just 16 minutes of play. Also had a nice feed to a cutter after an offensive rebound. Made a couple buckets inside.
James Michael McAdoo: Although listed here as a center, he did play sparingly alongside Ezeli, so was a power forward in those instances. With Speights in the game, McAdoo was the de facto center. McAdoo had three and-one’s in the 4th quarter and, as Walton put it, “roamed aggressively.”
Jason Thompson: Suited up, but did not play. Walton said he will play in the next game.
More Analysis
Monte Poole of CSN Bay Area:
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McAdoo also came off the bench to offer solid production in addition to his usual energy. He and Barbosa led the team in Plus-Minus, each finishing at +12.
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Rusty Simmons of the San Francisco Chronicle:
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Bogut moved fine and twice took left-handed jump hooks that he probably wouldn’t have considered last season. But the center missed both shots badly, let an alley-oop pass from Draymond Green slip through his hands and didn’t have his usual impact on defense.
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Diamond Leung of the Bay Area News Group:
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The Warriors, having returned nearly all of their weapons, showed off their depth as well.
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(Photo: @letsgowarriors Instagram account via Ariel Nava)
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