The Warriors have to settle for moral victories these days at a time when real W’s are a rare commodity.
A four-game slog of a road trip came to a merciful end on Monday night in the Mile High City. An ‘L’ was expected for Golden State, as Steph Curry, Klay Thompson, Andrew Wiggins, Gary Payton II and Otto Porter Jr. were all out of action. Led by a career game from Moses Moody (30 points) and another big night from Jordan Poole (32 points), the Warriors hung tough with the Denver Nuggets for most of Monday night’s contest but ultimately fell in a 131-124 loss.
The Warriors didn’t get wiped on a night when no one would have batted an eye at a 20-point loss, but their current five-game skid is the longest since the team’s 15-50 season in 2019-20. Warriors coach Steve Kerr kept it real when assessing his team’s latest road swing.
“We went 0-4 and losing sucks,” Kerr said. “That’s my biggest takeaway.”
The contest was the make-up for a Dec. 30 postponement due to a short-handed Nuggets squad, but the Warriors also have a game Tuesday night at home against the Los Angeles Clippers (7 p.m. PT tip-off on 95.7 The Game). So Golden State’s stars rested and the team’s youngsters played huge minutes.
Short term, things aren’t great around the team. Long term, though? The Warriors have to be excited about their future nucleus after the road trip Moody just put together.
Moody finished Monday night by going 10-of-23 from the field and 5-of-12 from 3-point land. He uncorked his shot and showed supreme confidence in a prime opportunity to get minutes against a playoff team. Moody connected on his first three 3-pointers and already had a new career high with 22 points by halftime.
The 19-year-old became a volume shooter Monday night but started off the road trip by going a perfect 11-of-11 from the field and 5-of-5 from 3-point land, a nod to his maturity, efficiency and basketball IQ. Earlier on the trip, Kerr said Moody has earned a larger rotation role for the stretch run and you can see why. He wrapped up the four-game trip by averaging 14.5 points and 2.5 3-pointers made per game while shooting 61.8 percent from the field and 58.8 percent from 3-point land.
The 6-foot-6 Moody is showing that he’s more than merely a 3-and-D guy. He flashed other skills Monday night, with an attacking mindset that allowed him to get to the rim, the ability to get his nose dirty for offensive rebounds, great court vision that led to a crafty crosscourt assist, the IQ to draw charges and the confidence to take reigning MVP Nikola Jokic one-on-one and hit a fadeaway bank shot.
“He’s a keeper,” Kerr said. “He’s a guy who’s going to be a cornerstone for this team for the Warriors for a long time to come. It’s easy to see that right now in his rookie year.”
Moody might not jump off the tape like his fellow rookie Jonathan Kuminga, but is a well-rounded player who looks like he can contribute in various ways.
If the Warriors re-sign Kevon Looney this offseason and James Wiseman gets healthy, you can already start to envision how the team’s rotation could look next season. Beyond the starting five of Curry, Thompson, Wiggins, Draymond Green and Looney, the Warriors could have a second unit featuring Poole, Moody, Kuminga and Wiseman, who are all currently 22 or younger. Ideally the Warriors would be able to find a tall, backup point guard (to neutralize Poole’s diminutive stature for a shooting guard) to add to that nucleus, but the next wave of Warriors is already in the building.
“Moses had what, 15 or 17 in the first quarter and you gotta realize this is his first year,” Looney said Monday night. “Sometimes you see JK doing these insane plays on the court and you gotta stop and realize, like, this is the guys’ first year and they’re making an impact on a winning team. That’s hard to do. It’s exciting.”
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After going a month without scoring at least 20 points in a game, Poole has woken up over the past three contests and is averaging 26 points with 15 combined 3-pointers made. His 4.7 assists per game are also an encouraging sign that he’s becoming more of a playmaker than remaining one dimensional as a scorer. Poole matched his career high by making eight 3-pointers Monday night, coming 12 attempts. When he’s hot, Poole is liable to connect from 30 feet or get past his defender with a lightning-quick dribble on any given possession.
Poole has been curt with the media when discussing his move to the bench with Thompson’s addition this season. Even after a win, Poole doesn’t seem to be in much of a mood to talk with reporters, though. On Monday night, he set an alarm on his phone to go off 90 seconds after starting his press conference.
“I never really lost my comfort,” Poole said. “Just going out there and contributing to play hard every night.”
Moody, meanwhile, continues to show a sense of maturity that makes you forget he’s only 19. After shuttling back-and-forth with Santa Cruz of the G League to start this season, Moody is a bona fide NBA player now.
“Patience is the story of my life right now,” Moody said. “It’s something that I’ve had to put a conscious effort and diligently focus on. Patience, just trying to be cool and have it come subconsciously. … That even-keel mentality that’s not something that will just happen if you don’t think about it and push those feelings to the side.”
