Nuggets-Warriors Grades: Denver's starters falter in the Bay

After a first quarter to forget, the Denver Nuggets crawled their way back into the game thanks to their bench. That run only lasted a brief moment as Denver’s starters couldn’t match Klay Thompson and Golden State as the Warriors handed the Nuggets a 122-105 road loss.

We grade every performance from the Nuggets with our Dynamic Player Rating (DPR), which takes into account 12 different statistical factors.

Note: for DPRs that are lacking context, our beat reporters are offering their scout’s grade.

Nikola Jokic (B-) 65.56 — Receiving a passing grade on a -29 night, where Jokic and the rest of the starting five just couldn’t keep pace with the Dubs, is no small feat. The Joker’s big selling point was his efficient shooting, as shown by a 59 TS%, he also registered a 120 ORtg and a decent DRtg of 109, a quality mark given the circumstances. On top of his 16 points, six rebounds, and four assists Jokic added four steals, which also helped his grade. It was far from Jokic’s best game of the season. In fact, it marked his worst game since Feb. 4 in Detroit, but he still managed to fill out the box score and earn a solid grade.

Jamal Murray (C-) 51.25 — Murray’s scoring, or lack thereof, is what hurt him on top of only managing three assists and zero rebounds in 23 minutes.  Murray’s 129 DRtg — his worst since the last time the Nuggets faced the Warriors— on top of a -19 plus-minus, killed his grade in an outing where he couldn’t match the Splash Brothers’ hot-shooting night.

Paul Millsap (C-) 50.70 — This marked Millsap’s worst game since being brought back to the lineup on Feb. 11 after a three-game absence. In 16 minutes he could only muster nine points, four rebounds, and one assist. His 124 DRtg was one of the worst he’s had all year and Millsap was also a -7 on the night. He did have a high USG% of 28.2 but just wasn’t scoring at an efficient clip, only registering a 43 eFG%.

Will Barton (D-) 39.90 — After playing some pretty stout defense for a stretch, Barton’s play on that end of the floor has faltered recently. Even worse than his 114 DRtg and -30 plus-minus, was his 43 ORtg — easily his worst of the season. Barton shot 22 percent per eFG%, had zero assists in 26 minutes, and only scored a mere five points. He did add nine rebounds and two steals which salvaged his grade a bit.

Gary Harris (D-) 39.50 — The hero in the Nuggets’ victory in L.A. wasn’t at his best against the Warriors scoring six points, all which came from the charity stripe. Harris’ eFG% was a whopping zero percent. Defensively, he couldn’t make much of an impact either, ending the game with a 127 DRtg and a -10 plus-minus.

Malik Beasley (C) 55.9 — Beasly was huge off the bench making five 3s and finishing the game with 17 points, as the young two-guard played a big role in the Nuggets crawling back into the game in the second quarter. However, he could only keep that up for so long and ended up with a 109 ORtg and a 128 DRtg. Outside of his scoring, Beasly’s contribution was limited to just one rebound.

Monte Morris (B-) 69.50 — It had been a while since Morris found his groove and scored a grade this high, tallying 17 points, adding six dimes and two steals. His 157 ORtg was easily the best on the team, as he shot an ultra-efficient 76 TS% and also had one of the few positive plus-minuses for Denver on the night.

Mason Plumlee (C) 57.30 — Plumlee played 23 minutes and was able to make his presence felt on the boards while also dishing out two assists and adding a block. His nine points came on of a dismal 37 eFG% for a 98 ORtg, and a rough 117 DRtg.

Isaiah Thomas (C-) 50.56 — Like Morris and Beasley, Thomas played a key role in the Nuggets getting back into the game in the second quarter with a couple of key assists in the pick and roll. But in 15 minutes he struggled to score and shot a rough 33 eFG%. While he did have the Nuggets’ best plus-minus on the night (plus-9), his 83 ORtg and 122 DRtg were pretty bleak.

Torrey Craig (C) 59.25 — Craig made his presence felt in 26 minutes, coming close to a double-double with 11 points and nine boards, four of which came on the offensive glass. He shot a decent 50 percent per eFG% and had comparable ORtg and DRtg’s, 121 to 122 respectively.