Moses Moody got a rare start Tuesday night. Some spectacular plays showed why he deserves more minutes.
High-level sequence from Moses Moody. Tip away steal to stop a fastbreak and then behind the back save while diving into the front row to start a fastbreak. Leads to Kuminga alley oop. Moody also has three 3s tonight. pic.twitter.com/47PgLYtWia
— Anthony Slater (@anthonyVslater) February 28, 2024
In the third quarter, Moody leaped out of bounds to save a steal he’d created with a deflection. He flipped the ball behind his back to Draymond Green, who threw his own impressive pass to Stephen Curry, who found Jonathan Kuminga for a slam dunk.
Moody was starting in place of Andrew Wiggins, one day after head coach Steve Kerr told reporters Moody was “out of the loop.”
"He's out of the loop, right now."
— Warriors on NBCS (@NBCSWarriors) February 26, 2024
Kerr says it's "impossible" to play 12 guys in a rotation when asked about Moody's lack of play tonight pic.twitter.com/hRqkdTEVzT
The return of Gary Payton II and Chris Paul from injury, plus the emergence of rookie Brandin Podziemski had pushed Moody down the Warriors rotation. But the 21-year-old stayed ready. He hit four three-pointers to help Golden State to a 123-112 win over Washington, one after dropping his defender to the floor.
MOSES MOODY
— Golden State Warriors (@warriors) February 28, 2024
TOUGHHHH. pic.twitter.com/iDfzGL64iL
He may have earned more minutes for a Warriors team that is suddenly quite deep. They got 59 bench points Tuesday, including 25 points from new sixth man Klay Thompson (six threes) and nine points, six assists and four steals from Paul.
On a night where Curry was scoreless at halftime - he finished with 18 - the Warriors bench carried them to victory. Perhaps with more Moody minutes, they can carry the team to the playoffs.
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