Well, Game 2 was an unmitigated disaster. The Golden State Warriors lost to the Houston Rockets 109-94 and, more critically, lost Jimmy Butler III to a pelvic contusion. They’re still in a good position on paper — they regained home court advantage and, when healthy, have looked like the better team, with the series shifting to San Francisco for Games 3 and 4 — but if Butler misses any time, it’s hard to see the Warriors having much success in this series.

So it’s a somber bit of grading tonight as we light some candles and pull the caps of our red pens. As always, grades are based on my expectations for each player, with a “B” grade representing that player’s average performance.

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%.

Moses Moody

24 minutes, 12 points, 2 rebounds, 1 assist, 1 steal, 1 block, 1 turnover, 1 foul, 4-for-7 shooting, 3-for-6 threes, 1-for-2 free throws, 76.1% TS, -13

Moody was the offense early on. Halfway through the first quarter, the Warriors had scored just 10 points, but Moody had six of them. But from there everything kind of fell apart. Moody’s defense was not up to his usual standards, and he seemed a step slow on rotations, transition opportunities, and rebounds. He just wasn’t very aggressive in any area of the floor, and it was reflected by his low minute total, even on a night when the Warriors were down a pair of starters. Still, a decent scoring game.

Grade: C+

Post-game bonus: Tied for the worst plus/minus on the team

Jimmy Butler III

8 minutes, 3 points, 2 rebounds, 1-for-2 shooting, 1-for-2 free throws, 52.1% TS, -7

All eyes have turned to Jimmy. In the first quarter, he got undercut by Amen Thompson while high in the air, and fell about five feet directly onto his tailbone. It looked identical to the injury that cost Steph Curry a few games near the end of the season, and Butler was quickly ruled out for the rest of the contest with a pelvic contusion.

According to Tim Kawakami, Butler was headed straight back to the Bay Area after the game for an MRI, while the rest of the team stays in Houston overnight.

There’s no need to overcomplicate this. If Butler is back on Saturday and looks like himself, the Warriors are in good shape. If he misses time, the season is probably over.

Also, there was nothing dirty about what Thompson did. Just to clear that up.

Grade: PLEASE BE OKAY JIMMY WE REALLY NEED YOU MAN

Draymond Green

31 minutes, 8 points, 5 rebounds, 1 assist, 3 steals, 1 block, 5 turnovers, 3 fouls, 2-for-6 shooting, 2-for-6 threes, 2-for-4 free throws, 51.5% TS, -13

There are two different ways to dissect Green’s performance. The first is simple: he didn’t play very well. He had essentially no aggression on offense, with five turnovers to just one assist, and zero field goal attempts inside the arc. He got brutalized by Alperen Šengün on the glass. He was absolutely phenomenal on about half of the team’s defensive possessions, and pretty quiet on the other half. It was, frankly, a pretty disappointing performance towards winning Wednesday’s game.

But the other way of looking at it is more fun. Green got in Houston’s head. He got under their skin. He took a chippy series and made it chippier. Took an emotional series and made it more heated. At halftime the Warriors were down 14 points and two starters, and no one thought they could win, yet it was also clear that they had started to rattle the Rockets.

That’s a long-term play. The Warriors know how to play with emotion. Green is a master at it, even when he occasionally crosses the line. Butler and Steph Curry are sensational at it. They’re veterans. They’ve all been there.

Houston hasn’t. The Rockets are young and inexperienced. You want players like that to get chippy and emotional, because they’re liable to go on tilt.

Now maybe that won’t happen. Ime Udoka is an intense and hardcore coach, so maybe he has his players ready to deal with this. But if the Warriors win on Saturday due in part to a bunch of self-inflicted errors by a Rockets team that is a little too amped for the moment, then remember what Dray did on Wednesday.

I won’t grade him for that now. But if he comes into the office on Monday after a Saturday win, we can adjust the grade.

Grade: C-

Post-game bonus: Tied for the lead in rebounds, tied for the worst plus/minus on the team.

Brandin Podziemski

14 minutes, 0 points, 0-for-5 shooting, 0-for-2 threes, 0.0% TS, -11

There’s no way to properly grade Podziemski. He was a game-time decision due to an illness. Every time they showed him on the court he looked like a ghost. Every time they showed him on the bench I crossed my fingers and hoped they’d get the camera off him before he vomited. He left the game early and was ruled as questionable, before returning in the third quarter. He was utterly awful.

I can’t really give him a bad grade. He gutted it out admirably, and his poor performance was pretty clearly due to circumstances beyond his control.

Hopefully he gets a good night of sleep.

Grade: Weird, gutsy, and incomplete

Steph Curry

37 minutes, 20 points, 5 rebounds, 9 assists, 1 steal, 1 block, 6 turnovers, 6-for-15 shooting, 4-for-9 threes, 4-for-4 free throws, 59.7% TS, -3

I also have no idea how to grade Curry. On raw stats, it wasn’t a very good night for him. He scored below his average, both in total points and efficiency. He had nine assists but a whopping six turnovers. He didn’t play very good defense.

But you also have to consider the context of the situation. The Warriors struggled to score on Sunday, even in victory. And then Curry lost Butler and Podziemski, his secondary and tertiary scorers. He wasn’t just the top priority of Houston’s defense — he was, at times, the only priority. And he knew he had to don a cape for the Dubs to have a chance.

Your stats usually look worse when you know your team needs perfection from you to even have a chance, and that’s what happened with Steph. He still kept the Dubs in it more than they deserved to be.

Grade: B

Post-game bonus: Led the team in points and assists, tied for the team lead in rebounds.

Gary Payton II

12 minutes, 0 points, 1 rebound, 1 assist, 1 steal, 2 fouls, 0-for-3 shooting, 0-for-1 threes, 0.0% TS, -4

I just don’t think this is a good matchup for Payton. The Warriors offense is struggling too much with the Rockets defense to give many minutes to a defense-first player. And, with all respect to Jalen Green and his 38 points tonight, Houston doesn’t have good enough perimeter scorers for GPII’s defensive presence to really be needed.

Grade: C

Quinten Post

25 minutes, 12 points, 2 rebounds, 1 assist, 1 steal, 4-for-9 shooting, 4-for-8 threes, 66.7% TS, -4

After a dud of a playoff debut on Sunday, Post had a strong game on Wednesday. The Warriors really need him to develop more moves inside the arc, but his floor-stretching ways were vital for the team, especially after Butler’s offense was lost. I thought he played a pretty strong game on defense, too, even though he didn’t do a good job rebounding.

Grade: B+

Buddy Hield

16 minutes, 5 points, 4 rebounds, 1 assist, 2 fouls, 2-for-4 shooting, 1-for-3 threes, 62.5% TS, -7

If Butler has to miss any time, the Warriors will need a lot more from Hield. I’ll just leave it at that.

Grade: C+

Kevon Looney

13 minutes, 5 points, 4 rebounds, 3 assists, 1 foul, 2-for-3 shooting, 1-for-2 free throws, 64.4% TS, -6

There were a few instances where Looney got beat up a bit in the paint, or run off the court a little bit. But for the most part he played well. There’s only so much of a role that he can play, but he’s playing it well.

Grade: B+

Gui Santos

11 minutes, 3 points, 1 rebound, 1 assist, 2 turnovers, 4 fouls, 1-for-3 shooting, 0-for-1 threes, 1-for-2 free throws, 38.7% TS, -8

Remember what I said about the young and inexperienced Rockets perhaps getting hurt by the emotion and energy of the moment? Yeah, I think that happened a little bit for Santos on Wednesday.

Grade: C-

Jonathan Kuminga

26 minutes, 11 points, 3 rebounds, 2 assists, 1 block, 1 turnover, 2 fouls, 4-for-12 shooting, 2-for-5 threes, 1-for-2 free throws, 42.7% TS, -3

Well … I certainly didn’t have Kuminga finishing third on the team in minutes on my bingo card for the game, I’ll tell you that much.

With Butler and Podziemski out, Steve Kerr was forced to turn to Kuminga. It was an odd game for JK. When players lose their spot in the rotation, one of two things usually happens in their return game: they press a little too much to prove that they should be playing, or they get a little too passive and scared of making a mistake. Somehow it kind of felt like Kuminga did both of those things.

He played like he was worried that one mistake would get him sent back to the bench, except for when he was pressing.

I didn’t really mind the pressing. The Warriors have scored 95 and 94 points in the series. They need offense however they can get it. Houston is as aggressive on defense as a team from the 90s, so Kuminga’s aggression has a chance to get the Rockets in foul trouble.

It wasn’t a particularly good game for Kuminga, but I do feel like he showed enough that he’ll be in the rotation on Saturday, even if Butler is healthy. And if Butler can’t play, it wouldn’t shock me to see Kuminga in the starting lineup.

Kuminga would probably get a decently below-average game under most circumstances, but given that he hadn’t played in three games and was suddenly thrust into a big role, I’ll bump him up a little. He stayed ready, even if he didn’t shine.

Grade: B-

Pat Spencer

12 minutes, 11 points, 1 rebound, 1 assist, 2 fouls, 5-for-7 shooting, 1-for-1 threes, 78.6% TS, -2

Spencer had an offensive explosion in the second quarter which … hey, didn’t see that one coming. Didn’t see him playing at all but the loss of two starters dictated things, and Spencer absolutely made the most of his opportunity. Great stuff.

Grade: A

Trayce Jackson-Davis

4 minutes, 2 points, 2 rebounds, 1 foul, 1-for-1 shooting, 100.0% TS, +2

Despite some fans clamoring for TJD to get a little run, he only saw the court in garbage time. Played well, though!

Grade: Incomplete

Post-game bonus: Tied for the best plus/minus on the team.

Braxton Key

4 minutes, 0 points, 2 blocks, +2

Hey, a pair of blocks in less than four minutes is pretty cool!

Grade: Incomplete

Post-game bonus: Tied for the best plus/minus on the team.

Kevin Knox II

4 minutes, 2 points, 1 rebound, 1 assist, 1-for-3 shooting, 0-for-1 threes, 33.3% TS, +2

And Knox rounds out the garbage time trio.

Grade: Incomplete

Post-game bonus: Tied for the best plus/minus on the team.