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The Golden State Warriors fell to 0-3 on Saturday, after losing 131-122 to the Phoenix Suns in the second game of a back-to-back. Despite the result, you can easily make the case that it was Golden State’s most impressive game of the short season, given that they kept it close despite playing without Steph Curry, Draymond Green, Brandin Podziemski, and Al Horford.
But it was still a loss, and it still needs to be graded. As always, grades are based on my expectations for each player, with a “B” grade representing the average performance for that player.
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Note: True-shooting percentage (TS) is a scoring efficiency metric that accounts for threes and free throws. Last year, league-average TS was 58.1%.
Yaxel Lendeborg
36 minutes, 26 points, 9 rebounds, 5 assists, 1 block, 2 turnovers, 9-for-19 shooting, 6-for-11 threes, 2-for-3 free throws, 64.0% TS, +5
Was Lendeborg perfect? No. But should you be extremely excited that Golden State’s rookie dropped 26-9-5 with excellent efficiency in just his third career game? Absolutely.
With Curry and Podziemski out, Lendeborg was the team’s first option, and he handled the role brilliantly. He was both patient and aggressive on offense, and didn’t let the heavier workload on that end of the court impact his effort levels on defense or on the glass.
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He’s really good. I think, after three games, we can conclude that. The question with Lendeborg — who, as has been discussed ad nauseam over the last few months, is already 24 — is how much better can he get?
Grade: A
Post-game bonus: Led the team in points, tied for the team lead in assists.
Gui Santos
23 minutes, 7 points, 4 rebounds, 3 assists, 1 turnover, 4 fouls, 1-for-4 shooting, 1-for-2 threes, 4-for-8 free throws, 46.5% TS, -13
Not the best Gui performance. His energy and hustle are always welcome in these sort of shorthanded games, where outworking the opponent is the lone path to victory. But he was struggling to score, and often got caught out of position on defense.
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Grade: C
Graham Ike
26 minutes, 12 points, 10 rebounds, 2 assists, 1 steal, 1 turnover, 4 fouls, 5-for-13 shooting, 2-for-2…
Source link : https://sports.yahoo.com/articles/player-grades-warriors-vs-suns-065042816.html
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Publish date : 2026-10-25 06:50:00
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