The Warriors from Golden State beat the tall or skilled Orland Magic 121–115 on Tuesday night to have a great start to the new year.
The win broke a string of three losses. As they have been all season, the Magic were ready to play. Some things went wrong with the match, but I think it was superior to what the score showed.
When the Dubs lost two of their three remaining matches, I was lucky to have time away for the holidays.
I was reluctant to write those grades for no reason, and they didn’t want them either. This is a good thing.
Ratings are always based on the what I think everybody should have done. A “B” score means that person made about average.
Keep in mind that the true-shooting percentage (TS) has become a way to figure out how well you score that looks at both free throws and three-point shots.
Before the games on Tuesday, the league’s average TS was 58.0%. I wrote early in the day that I wished Kuminga would always get for as long as possible as a starter.
Things are going well so far. It was JK’s second-most-played game on Tuesday. But it came with a price: Moses Moody was given a healthy DNP.
Still, it was cool seeing Kuminga look like a real starter. It was also okay because of his play. A number of solo moves saved a few bad plays.
But he also cared about the attack of the team by making extra passes over and over again. He did it fast too.
He played great defense for the team along with has a lot to do with the fact that rising player Paolo Banchero lost the ball five times.
It would have been nice to see a few more rebounds, but Kuminga was mostly exactly what the Warriors need in a defender: dedicated, knows why to play within an offense’s rules, and can also paint against it through speed, skill, and creativity.
TJD got his second straight start, and that’s a big deal for a second-round rookie that was up against two well-known pros at the position.
He had a bad start to the game. Orlando’s large and athletic team scored a lot of points in the paint in its initial plays, which put them ahead 11-2.
He got used to it, though, and worked pretty well. He is still getting adjusted to being a new player.
For example, he missed several offensive passes when he should have been there right then and there during late defense changes and swipes. But what he adds to the team is much more important.
All season, his performance has been terrific at getting rebounds. In this game, he wasn’t very good, but he did more than the score shows. He looks like he could stay at the center to a long time.
CP3 didn’t have a big game, but as long as you paid careful attention, you could tell he was one of the best players in the court.
He always made sure things went smoothly. Whenever the group needed help, he stepped in and got it done.
I loved almost everything about this Curry game, apart from the jokes. At first, Orlando did anything they could to thwart him.
He was happy to put together plans, attack their security, and let all of them go. That’s when Curry stepped in and helped the Warriors.
He made shots and led big runs both in the third and final quarters, which makes him must-see on TV whenever that he puts upon his shoes.
He did that too. It wasn’s not a joke that Steve Kerr said upon Saturday that the squad wasn’t working together well enough.