Warriors vs. Rockets Game 3 player grades: Steph Curry dominates, Gary Payton II plays the hero

Wow. Just wow. The Golden State Warriors had the most meaningful win that an NBA team has had this postseason on Saturday night, beating the Houston Rockets 104-93. It not only gave the Dubs a 2-1 series advantage, but established all the momentum since they were playing without Jimmy Butler III. With Butler hopefully back for Monday’s Game 4, the Warriors have to feel like this series is firmly theirs to lose.

It was a highly impressive win in which Golden State flipped an early 13-point deficit into a double-digit win without their second-best player. So let’s grade the players who made the magic happen. As always, grades are based on my expectations of each player, with a “B” grade representing the average performance for that player.

Note: True-shooting percentage (TS) is a scoring efficiency metric that accounts for threes and free throws. League-average TS this year was 57.6%.

Jonathan Kuminga

17 minutes, 7 points, 1 rebound, 2 assists, 1 turnover, 3 fouls, 3-for-7 shooting, 1-for-2 free throws, 44.4% TS, -5

After starting Game 2 out of the rotation, Kuminga started Game 3 in the opening lineup. What a difference a few days and a critical injury can make.

He didn’t play well, but he did a lot of things that were very close to being good. He got the opening assignment on Jalen Green, which I thought he handled pretty darn well … but he also had an issue with fouls and with letting Green blow by him too easily. He did a great job attacking the perimeter defense, bet generally found himself kicking the ball out when he got into the paint instead of finishing or drawing a foul. He put his athleticism on display, but had just one rebound and no stocks.

He looked like a player who was a little scared to make a mistake and he’s just never going to excel like that. The whole situation is a bummer. But I hope he stays in the rotation even when Butler returns. This wasn’t a good game for him but you could see the vision.

Grade: C-

Post-game bonus: Worst plus/minus on the team.

Draymond Green

34 minutes, 7 points, 8 rebounds, 4 assists, 2 steals, 3 blocks, 5 turnovers, 4 fouls, 3-for-11 shooting, 0-for-4 threes, 1-for-1 free throws, 30.6% TS, +12

An offensive eyesore but a defensive clinic. Just an utterly superb defensive game for Green. He got the opening assignment on Alperen Şengün, while frequently switching onto Jalen Green in the pick-and-roll, and that pair of foundational players for Houston managed a combined 24 points on 29 shots (plus six free throws). Just elite, elite, elite defense.

Couldn’t score to save his soul and made some atrocious turnovers, though.

Grade: B+

Quinten Post

27 minutes, 2 points, 12 rebounds, 4 assists, 1 steal, 1 block, 4 fouls, 1-for-7 shooting, 0-for-3 threes, 14.3% TS, +7

Post was inserted in the starting lineup, and the assumption was that his offense would play, while the question was if he could hold his own enough on defense and rebounding to be playable. Instead, he struggled on offense, but was tremendous on defense and rebounding.

The rookie more than held his own defending Şengün, Steven Adams, and Jabari Smith Jr. (and even Amen Thompson in his opening assignment), while handling drop coverage against Jalen Green quite comfortably. He was the game’s leading rebounder, and Houston’s dominance on the offensive glass was greatly minimized when he was on the court.

He looked hesitant to shoot, and the Warriors need him to do more than score two points in 27 minutes, but still a highly impressive performance.

Grade: B+

Post-game bonus: Led the team in rebounds.

Brandin Podziemski

33 minutes, 10 points, 5 rebounds, 2 assists, 1 steal, 2 fouls, 3-for-9 shooting, 1-for-6 threes, 3-for-4 free throws, 46.5% TS, +13

Podziemski was clearly feeling better after his bout of food poisoning, as he looked like his usual self in this game. He scored the first five points for the team, and had huge contributions on the defensive end of the court. Not his best offensive game, but the defense and ball control more than made up for it.

Grade: B

Steph Curry

41 minutes, 36 points, 7 rebounds, 9 assists, 1 steal, 2 blocks, 2 turnovers, 12-for-23 shooting, 5-for-13 threes, 7-for-8 free throws, 67.9% TS, +18

I don’t know what to say. I really don’t know what to say. I really don’t think you can guard Steph better than the Rockets did (as long as the refs are allowing you to … you know … do all that stuff). And he still had 36 points on outrageous efficiency. With Butler out, Houston’s entire defensive game plan was aimed at Curry, and for good reason: in the first half, Golden State didn’t make a single bucket with Steph off the court.

The face-guarded him 30 feet from the hoop. They double-teamed him off-ball 40 feet from the hoop. They triple teamed him while he had a live dribble. They bear-hugged him when he tried to run off any screen. They fouled him on every possession.

And somehow he danced and wove around the defense until he found a sliver of light, then contorted his body enough to get a shot off, and most times he made it. And when he couldn’t get a shot off, he used his massive gravity to find opponents for open looks.

To top it all off, he had one of his best defensive games of the season.

With Butler out, the Warriors had no chance of winning without Steph being a superstar. And he turned in perhaps the best game of the 2025 Playoffs thus far.

Grade: A+ (duh)

Post-game bonus: Led the team in points and assists, best plus/minus on the team.

Gary Payton II

21 minutes, 16 points, 2 rebounds, 1 assist, 2 fouls, 7-for-9 shooting, 2-for-3 threes, 88.9% TS, +1

So uhh … Payton was kind of a star in this game. The Warriors have been unable to find non-Steph offense all series long, and it came from an unexpected place in this game, with Payton having an absolutely dynamic showing, which included scoring nine straight Warriors points all by himself late in the fourth quarter.

GPII will never be a go-to offensive player, but he became Curry’s best friend when Steph was double and triple-teamed. Payton was frequently moving to the perfect spot, and prepared to either hoist a jumper or attack the rim as soon as he got the ball. And then he made almost all of his shots.

It was a close game until late, when Payton went into overdrive, and then the Dubs ran away with it. Add in his usual excellent defense and it was a downright brilliant game.

Grade: A+

Moses Moody

23 minutes, 7 points, 3 rebounds, 2 assists, 3-for-8 shooting, 1-for-5 threes, 43.8% TS, -4

Moody was removed from the starting lineup for this game, but played well off the bench. He has been struggling with the physicality of the series when on offense, as he’s having a hard time attacking the rim and getting good looks, and hasn’t been a huge factor on the glass, either. But he played strong defense in this game, I thought.

Grade: B-

Kevon Looney

14 minutes, 2 points, 5 rebounds, 1 steal, 4 fouls, 1-for-3 shooting, 33.3% TS, -1

Even with Post playing so many minutes, Looney still got some serious run. As always, he provided a physical presence that was good for the Dubs, but he also struggled a bit to contain Houston, hence the four fouls in just 14 minutes.

Grade: B-

Buddy Hield

29 minutes, 17 points, 2 rebounds, 2 assists, 3 steals, 2 turnovers, 2 fouls, 6-for-13 shooting, 5-for-11 threes, 65.4% TS, +14

What a game by Buddy. Just a tremendous game all around. His offense was so timely, with huge shots when the Warriors needed them the most. He kept the ball moving and made countless hustle plays. He had a very strong defensive game and, because of that, was part of the team’s closing lineup.

He was absolutely a difference-maker in this game, on both ends of the court.