The Warriors get surprise contributions in their gritty 112-107 win against the Utah Jazz
The Warriors trail for most of the night but find traction in surprise minutes for Patrick Baldwin Jr., Ty Jerome has a big night, and Draymond Green does Draymond things in crunch time.
For the second night in a row, the Warriors won at home in a crunch-time nail-biter. What made this game remarkable was that the Warriors were without Klay Thompson and beat a better team than the one they did the night before, the lowly Charlotte Hornets, and they did so with contributions up and down the roster from the most surprising and unproven of players.
Last night’s crunch-time hero, Jonathan Kuminga, played a solid game, but he fouled out with a few minutes left, which led Steve Kerr to close with an Anthony Lamb/Draymond Green frontcourt to supplement a three-guard backcourt of Jordan Poole, Ty Jerome, and Donte DiVincenzo.
Draymond made defensive play after defensive play in the game’s most important moments and locked down the paint as the Jazz closed the game with a frontcourt of Jared Vanderbilt, Lauri Markkanen, and Kelly Olynyk, who stand 6’6, 6’10, and 6’9, respectively. In just 29 minutes, Draymond picked up 9 rebounds, dished out 5 assists, and swatted three shots, two of which came in closing minutes. Draymond also scored 6 points and the only two shots that he made were three-pointers that came at critical moments in the game.
Draymond Green making defensive plays in crunch time and hitting back-breaking threes? That’s nothing new. The unexpected twist of tonight’s crunch-time minutes was that the Warriors’ most important engine of offensive production was two-way guard, Ty Jerome, who finished the night with 17 points, 7 rebounds, and 2 assists off the bench. Late in the third quarter, Jerome hit four straight buckets on drives to the hoop, which helped the Warriors trim a 10-point Jazz lead down to 6 points in extended minutes without Draymond Green or Jordan Poole. Then in the fourth quarter, Jerome hit the biggest three of the night in another stretch of minutes without Green or Poole, which gave the Warriors a 104-101 lead with 5:18 left in the game.
The Jazz scored a layup on the next trip down and then proceeded to go scoreless for nearly three minutes until Jordan Clarkson hit a three with the clock winding down at the 1:37 mark. That set the stage for Jordan Poole to score the last Warriors’ field goal of the night to put the Warriors up by three, but a few possessions later, Poole gave the Jazz a chance to cut the Warriors’ lead to a single point after he threw the ball away on a trap with less than 30 seconds left in the game.
Jordan Poole finished the night with 26 points on 7/22 shooting from the field, 2/10 shooting from deep, and only had one assist against 6 turnovers. Poole looked visibly frustrated by calls that went against him and struggled with the physical defense that Jazz threw at him, but his 12 free-throw attempts went a long way toward making his inefficiency from the field more tolerable. This was noticeable in the third quarter when Poole went foul-hunting, which helped the Warriors get some easy points at a time when their offense was quite bogged down.
Other thoughts and observations:
The other surprise contributor in tonight’s win was rookie forward, Patrick Baldwin Jr., who got to the arena an hour before the game started and gave the Warriors huge minutes in the second, third, and fourth quarters. In 12 minutes, Baldwin Jr. scored 11 points on 3/5 shooting from deep and gave the Warriors a credible frontcourt shooting threat. After passing up a good look at three early on and bogging down the Warriors’ offense as a result, Baldwin Jr. settled down and started taking shots the offense gave him. Even though he’s skinny and a little slow for a big wing, Baldwin Jr. knew where to be on both sides of the court and looked like a logical fit next to Donte DiVincenzo, Draymond Green, Jordan Poole, and Kevon Looney. Baldwin Jr. was solid enough in his second-quarter minutes that Steve Kerr closed the half with him and then turned to him for an extended stretch of minutes in the late third quarter and early fourth quarter. Baldwin Jr. was a team-high +13 in his minutes, which coincided with runs in the late second quarter and early third quarter.
Baldwin Jr.’s minutes were just a few seconds short of Moses Moody’s total on the night and I think there’s a chance that PBJ eats into Moody’s minutes with a few more solid nights of aggressive shooting. Moody scored just four points tonight on 1/2 shooting from the field and in the Warriors’ last five wins he’s taken 2, 0, 7, 5, and now, 2 shots. Moody is a better NBA-level defender than Baldwin Jr. right now, but PBJ plays a position of greater need and seems to not be as gun-shy as Moody. I’ll be curious to see how their minutes play out on Friday against the Portland Trail Blazers.
Anthony Lamb got a surprise start for the Warriors, much to the consternation of my the people on my Twitter timeline, over Jonathan Kuminga. Even though Kuminga fouled out tonight, I thought he played a more obviously impactful game and his crunch-time defense and rebounding were aggressive and focused. I suspect Kerr opted to bring Kuminga off of the bench to keep him in the role that he’s thrived in recently, but tonight Kuminga was on the bitter end of a lot of foul calls while Lamb didn’t pick up a single foul in his minutes.
Rotation watch:
1st Q:
12:00 — Poole/DiVincenzo/Lamb/D. Green/Looney: 0-0, tie game.
4:51 — Poole/DiVincenzo/Moody/Lamb/Kuminga: 13-20, Jazz lead.
6:21 — Poole/DiVincenzo/Moody/Lamb/D. Green: 10-15, Jazz lead.
4:14 — Jerome/DiVincenzo/Moody/Kuminga/Wiseman: 16-22, Jazz lead.
1:26 — Poole/Jerome/Moody/Kuminga/Wiseman: 25-31, Jazz lead.
In his first two extended touches of the game, Lauri Markkanen tried his luck attacking Draymond Green. The first possession ended in a turnover. You can see the play below:
Markkanen’s next possession against Draymond ended in a fading jumper that missed but on the next trip down, he hit his first shot of the night after Draymond Green helped on a drive and then had to close out on Markkanen at the three-point line. Markkanen hit another three on the Jazz’s next possession on an early shot-clock three in the left corner, but Donte DiVincenzo also hit back-to-back threes to match the Jazz’s star big, which set put the score at 10-8 after Markkenen hit his first two shots. The Warriors called their first timeout of the game when Markkanen hit his third three of the quarter, which you can see below:
Steve Kerr made his first sub of the night during that timeout and it was a surprising one — Moses Moody checked in before Jonathan Kuminga, the surprise hero of last night’s close fourth quarter against the Charlotte Hornets. Kuminga did check in about a minute after Moody and made an immediate impact with a transition layup from running the court hard and setting up James Wiseman for a bucket in the interior, which you can see below:
Take note of the score on that Wiseman bucket above — 18-25. In an all too familiar tale, the Jazz shot the lights out from three in the first quarter and hit 7 of their first 14 threes while the Warriors shot 3/12 over in the period, including two missed threes by Ty Jerome on the Warriors’ last possessions of the quarter.
2nd Q:
12:00 — Poole/Jerome/Moody/Kuminga/D. Green: 27-37, Jazz lead.
8:41 — Poole/Jerome/Lamb/Kuminga/D. Green: 36-46, Jazz lead.
8:12 — Poole/Jerome/Lamb/Kuminga/Looney: 38-46, Jazz lead.
7:32 — Jerome/DiVincenzo/Lamb/Kuminga/Looney: 41-50, Jazz lead.
6:58 — Jerome/DiVincenzo/Lamb/PBJ/Looney: 41-50, Jazz lead.
5:14 — Poole/DiVincenzo/PBJ/D. Green/Looney: 44-54, Jazz lead.
The Warriors started the second quarter with a Jordan Poole-led second unit that was unable to make much traction against the Jazz in their minutes together. Jonathan Kuminga was the bright spot of the quarter’s early minutes and in addition to some impressive defensive plays, he also helped the Warriors get out in transition on plays like this one below:
Anthony Lamb subbed in for Moses Moody at the 8:41 mark and hit an and-one layup in semi-transition, which put the Warriors within 7 points of the Jazz, but at the 6:58 mark, Kuminga picked up his third foul of the night. The Warriors called a timeout after that foul, which brought Patrick Baldwin Jr. into the game for his first meaningful minutes with the adult Warriors. Baldwin Jr. took two threes in his first two minutes of play, but he should have taken three. This possession, for example, features a good look that PBJ passed up to the Warriors’ detriment:
A few possessions later, Baldwin Jr. received a crisp crosscourt pass from Draymond Green and hit a three, but he was called for a foul defending a Colin Sexton drive in transition. You can see those plays below:
Steve Kerr challenged the foul on Baldwin Jr. successfully, which kept the score at 47-54 with a little under four minutes left in the half. A pair of Jordan Poole free throws later, PBJ got another look from three off of a Kevon Looney offensive rebound and railed it, which brought the score to 52-54. Jordan Poole hit a pull-up mid-range jumper to tie the game at the 1:39 mark, but after Lauri Markkanen made a layup, Kevon Looney bobbled a Jordan Poole pass on what should have been a successful two-for-one to end the quarter, and Markkanen hit a three with 7 seconds left to bring his points total to 23 and put the Jazz up by five at the end of the half.
3rd Q:
12:00 — Poole/DiVincenzo/Lamb/D. Green/Looney: 54-59, Jazz lead.
10:33 — Poole/Jerome/DiVincenzo/D. Green/Looney: 54-61, Jazz lead.
7:01 — Poole/Jerome/DiVincenzo/Lamb/Looney: 65-71, Jazz lead.
5:19 — Poole/DiVincenzo/Lamb/Kuminga/Looney: 70-79, Jazz lead.
3:16 — Jerome/Moody/Lamb/Kuminga/Wiseman: 76-84, Jazz lead.
1:27 — Jerome/Moody/PBJ/Lamb/Wiseman: 82-90, Jazz lead.
Less than 90 seconds into the third quarter, Steve Kerr made an early sub to bring Ty Jerome into the game for Anthony Lamb. This was, Bob Fitzgerald mused, an attempt to free Jordan Poole up off-ball. Thorough the first minutes of the quarter, Poole got to the free-throw line twice on unusually grifty moves, but the Warriors’ offense looked stagnant. The Warriors’ first made field goal of the half came at the end of a very ugly possession that stalled out several times and ended in a Draymond Green YOLO three from the left wing, which brought the score to 59-66. What followed over the next minute and a half or so was offensive fireworks— Donte DiVincenzo hit a three, followed by a Jared Vanderbilt dunk, a Kelly Olynyk three, a Jordan Poole relocation three, a Jordan Clarkson fading bailout three at the end of the shot clock, an Anthony Lamb three on the right wing, and then a Lauri Markkanen three, his 7th of the night, which put the score at 68-77, Jazz.
Markkanen came out at the 5:19 mark when the Warriors took a timeout and inserted Jonathan Kuminga into the game. The Warriors got within five points of the Jazz a few minutes later after Jordan Poole made a pair of free throws and Anthony Lamb got a driving layup in traffic in transition, but the Jazz pushed the lead up to 10 points shortly after James Wiseman checked into the game. Curiously, Draymond Green did not play the final 10 minutes of the quarter, which set the stage, again, for the Warriors to get some momentum in Patrick Baldwin Jr.’s minutes. Ty Jerome hit three straight layups or floaters, thanks in part to James Wiseman’s roll gravity — you can see one of those plays below — and a lineup of young and unproven Warriors cut the Jazz’ lead to just six points by the end of the quarter with solid defense.
4th Q:
12:00 — Poole/Jerome/DiVincenzo/PBJ/D. Green: 88-94, Jazz lead.
9:26 — Poole/DiVincenzo/PBJ/Kuminga/D. Green: 97-98, Jazz lead.
7:37 — Jerome/DiVincenzo/Lamb/Kuminga/Looney: 97-99, Jazz lead.
4:08 — Jerome/DiVincenzo/Lamb/Kuminga/D. Green: 107-103, Warriors lead.
3:48 — Poole/Jerome/DiVincenzo/Kuminga/D. Green: 107-103, Warriors lead.
2:03 — Poole/Jerome/DiVincenzo/Lamb/D. Green: 107-103, Warriors lead.
Less than a minute into the fourth quarter, the Jazz called timeout after the Warriors tied the game up on back-to-back threes by Patrick Baldwin Jr. and Jordan Poole. You can see that first three by PBJ below, which was the result of a solid play call.
But that second Poole three was quite amusing — the Jazz simply lost track of Poole and he walked into his easiest catch-and-shoot three of the night. On the Warriors’ next trip down, Draymond Green took a three at the top of the key to give the Warriors their first lead of the game since the first quarter. The Jazz took the lead back on a Rudy Gay jumper and a few possessions later, the Warriors turned in one of their most impressive sequences of offensive rebounding that I can remember, but ultimately failed over the course of 40 seconds to convert a shot. You can see that sequence below:
The Warriors looked utterly gassed after those futile 40 seconds and a few possessions later, Draymond Green, Jordan Poole, and Patrick Baldwin Jr. subbed out, leaving a lineup of Jerome/DiVincenzo/Lamb/Kuminga/Looney to fend for itself for several minutes.
The Warriors went scoreless until Ty Jerome converted a very clumsy-looking transition pump-fake and floater, which cut the Jazz lead to just two points. Jonathan Kuminga then drew a foul posting up Mike Conley and made his free throws to the time game at 101 apiece. After a defensive rebound, Ty Jerome took the ball up in transition and hit an audacious pull-up three to give the Warriors a three-point lead. On the Warriors’ next possession, Donte DiVincenzo hit a three of his own to put the Warriors up 107-101, which forced a Jazz timeout. Steve Kerr did not insert one of his Foundational Six until the 4:08 mark when brought Draymond Green back in. Jordan Poole followed about twenty seconds later and at the 2:03 mark, Jonathan Kuminga was called for his sixth foul of the game for shoving Jared Vanderbilt out of bounds chasing a rebound after Draymond Green made a brilliant contest of a Lauri Markkanen drive.
That brought Anthony Lamb back into the game and on the ensuing possession, Jordan Clarkson hit a bailout three to cut the Warriors’ lead to a single point. On the Warriors’ next trip down, Jordan Poole burst into the lane for a layup to make the score 109-106 and after Mike Conley missed a floater, Kelly Olynyk grabbed an offensive rebound and looked likely to put the ball back in the hoop, but Draymond Green delivered his second huge block of crunch time:
The next final minute of the game was rather chaotic and stressful. Olynyk sealed Ty Jerome in transition and got fouled on the shot, but missed both of his free throws with _- left in the game. Jordan Poole then took the ball up the court, got trapped, and turned the ball over and Draymond Green fouled Jordan Clarkson before the Jazz could get out in transition. Clarkson made his first free throw but missed his second and kicked the ball out to Jordan Poole, who got fouled. That was just the Jazz’s fourth foul of the period, so it didn’t incur free throws. That happened instead on at the 19-second mark when the Jazz intentionally fouled Donte DiVincenzo, who hit both of his free throws to put the Warriors up by four. The Jazz got one last good look at a three when Lauri Markkanen shot over Donte DiVincenzo with 14 seconds left, but that shot missed, and Jordan Poole got fouled and effectively put the game away by pushing the Warriors’ lead to five points with 10 seconds left.
James Wiseman watch:
In just 7 minutes tonight, James Wiseman had an uneven performance.
The good:
Wiseman was aggressive on the glass in the first half and matched up well physically against rookie big, Walker Kessler:
In Wiseman’s second-half minutes, his screening and rolls to the hoop played a big role in freeing up Ty Jerome for floaters and drives to the hoop. Here’s one such example:
This was also a nice possession of defensive awareness from Wiseman and his teammates in a lineup that hadn’t played any meaningful minutes this season:
The bad:
Oof.
Wiseman also got called for a defensive three-second violation in the third quarter and got a lob thrown over his head by Colin Sexton.
James Wiseman’s stats tonight:
4 points, 4 rebounds, and 1 foul on 2/4 FG in 7:20 minutes.