SAN FRANCISCO — Golden State Warriors rookie Moses Moody got his third straight start Thursday night against the Sacramento Kings. Since he started playing big minutes, Moody has received a lot of praise from fans, teammates and, most importantly, his head coach Steve Kerr.

Kerr was asked about his decision to choose the rookie from Arkansas to fill in the vacant spot in the starting lineup, and the Warriors coach had a lot of reasons why.

“He’s a great shooter, versatile defensively and he’s always in the right spot at both ends of the floor,” Kerr told ClutchPoints. “He has a great feel for the game. Defensive rotations are sharp and alert. It’s impressive to watch for such a young player to have that kind of feel.”

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In his previous two starts before Thursday, the rookie scored 11 and a career-high 20 points, respectively, including six 3-pointers in that 20-point outing. Moody also made the biggest play of the game against the San Antonio Spurs. He came up with a loose ball that eventually made it to the hands of Jordan Poole for the final basket of the game. The Warriors won that nail-biter, 124-120.

Moody was mostly quiet against the Kings with six points on 2-of-7 shooting in 24 minutes, but Golden State still turned in an excellent performance as a team in a 126-114 win to move to 40-13 on the season. Rookie inconsistency is to be expected, and it was still great to get him out there for extended run.

Moody has spent a lot of his rookie season playing in the G League for the Santa Cruz Warriors. Since the Warriors have been hit with injuries, he's taking full advantage of the opportunity that has presented itself. His attitude has remained positive and his work ethic hasn't changed.

His team fully believes in him, which is giving him a ton of confidence. The more Moody plays, the more the Warriors rookie will learn and blossom into the player the Dubs believe he can be.