SAN FRANCISCO — As the Golden State Warriors vie to move up the Western Conference standings during the stretch run of the regular season, they'll be relying on a long-awaited yet fully ingrained identity to better their chances of advancing past the play-in tournament or, ideally, avoiding it altogether.
Just because the Dubs have fully committed to playing Draymond Green at center, bringing Klay Thompson off the bench and pushing the pace at every opportunity, though, hardly means they don't have personnel and stylistics questions to answer over the last 16 games of 2023-24. Most pressing among them in wake of Saturday's pivotal win over LeBron James and the Los Angeles Lakers? Whether Moses Moody will be part of the rotation going forward after failing to get off the bench in Southern California.
Asked before Monday's matchup with the New York Knicks if Golden State would continue going nine-deep, Kerr made clear Moody's planned role could fluctuate on a nightly basis.
“It’s game-by-game,” he told ClutchPoints. “Moses was great last time we played the Knicks. I’d love to get him out there tonight, but it is game-by-game. When guys are playing well I’m generally gonna stay with them, so we’ll just see how each game is going and adapt from there.”
Moses Moody seems set as full-strength Warriors' 10th man
Moses Moody's playing time, or lack thereof, has been a hot-button issue for the Warriors since the season tipped off. A fixture off the bench through late December, the clear strides Moody had taken as a help defender and off-dribble attacker in his third NBA go-around seemed enough to keep him as a regular member of Golden State's rotation.
But he didn't play in three straight games beginning December 30th once Gary Payton II recovered from injury, only briefly re-emerging as a rotation player once Young Glove went back on the shelf shortly thereafter. Moody made the most of that opportunity, serving as a lone bright spot for the Dubs while scoring 21 points in consecutive blowout home losses to the Toronto Raptors and New Orleans Pelicans.
The 21-year-old didn't get the chance to build on that momentum, suffering a calf strain late against Toronto that sidelined him for the next nine games. He was in and out of the lineup upon getting healthy in early February, an ominous sign for his role as the season continued given the injury absence of Chris Paul. But Paul returned from his broken hand right as Andrew Wiggins left the team for personal reasons, suddenly thrusting Moody into the starting five.
He impressed filling in for Wiggins, serving as the Warriors' primary point-of-attack defender on the likes of New York's Jalen Brunson and the Raptors' Immanuel Quickley while also providing his typical brand of all-court energy and reliable long-range shot-making. Wiggins only missed four games, but Kerr had seen enough from Moody and rookie big man Trayce Jackson-Davis while he was out to shift Kevon Looney and Dario Saric into permanent end-of-bench roles, ostensibly committing to an ironclad 10-man rotation.
That proved the case for four straight games after Golden State returned home from its humiliating loss to the Boston Celtics, Moody averaging 20.5 minutes while once again coming off the bench. He shot just 33.3% overall and missed all 10 his three-point attempts over that fleeting stretch, though, then played 19 active, foul-prone minutes against the Dallas Mavericks last Wednesday as the Dubs played without a hobbled Stephen Curry and Draymond Green.
Moody's DNP against the Lakers was especially surprising because he was dusted off for extended minutes in last season's Western Conference Semifinals, acquitting himself well as a release-valve three-point shooter for Curry and two-way rebounder. Klay Thompson was scorching hot in his hometown on Saturday, and Wiggins mostly played with the physicality and force he sometimes reserves for marquee matchups and the postseason.
Maybe Golden State had planned on playing Moody before realizing Thompson, especially, and Wiggins both had it going? Kerr's comments before the Knicks game suggest otherwise, Moody ostensibly locked in behind Jonathan Kuminga, Wiggins, Thompson and Payton in his team's pecking order of wings and forwards. The Dubs leaning further into units featuring both Green and Jackson-Davis up front—a look we'll continue to see over the next three weeks, Kerr said Monday—of late only further complicates Moody's path to the floor.
Maybe Moody is back in the rotation against New York. He fared well guarding Brunson in New York, and the friendly confines of Chase Center could encourage Kerr to play his full 10-man lineup, searching for configurations buoyed by the home crowd.
No matter what happens Monday, though, won't change the unenviable place Moses Moody finds himself yet again as the playoffs fast approach. Don't be surprised if he racks up several more DNP-CDs before the regular season comes to a close, Moody's playing time subject to nightly whims of matchups, momentum and circumstances of time, score and health.
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