What looked like an ideal bounce-back game for the Golden State Warriors turned into an absolute heartbreaker.
With the Warriors up by five with just over 1:10 left in overtime, Moses Moody picked Cooper Flagg's pocket and took off for what felt like a routine play. As he went for the dagger-dunk off two feet, his left leg buckled mid-air.
Moody went down and immediately clutched at his left knee. After several long, harrowing minutes, the Warriors swingman was stretchered off the court to a loud round of applause from the American Airlines Center crowd. His teammates, just like those watching at home, were in disbelief. Another instance of how cruel basketball can be at times, something Dub Nation has learned the hard way this season.
Moses Moody litteraly just came back from a wrist injury. He had missed the last ten games after suffering a wrist sprain on March 2 against the Los Angeles Clippers. But despite missing an extended period of time, he looked like he hadn't missed a beat, finishing with a team-high 23 points, three rebounds, three assists, three steals and two blocks. After putting together the best season of his career — shooting over 40% from three on more than six attempts per game — his season came to an abrupt and unfair end.
As sad and cruel as it is, the Warriors' season must go on. And on Monday, in a 137-131 win over the Mavericks — the Warriors’ first win in Dallas since March 22, 2023 — they showed us what could carry them through the Play-In Tournament, but also what could sink them.
Sloppy ball security, shaky defense
It's now three straight 20-turnover games for the Warriors. After committing 26 in Detroit on Friday and 21 in Atlanta on Saturday, Golden State reiterated with 24 turnovers in Dallas. That amounts to 71 turnovers over a three-game span, the most in the league during that stretch by a margin of 10.
The lack of playmaking and a true point guard has been evident, as four players who appeared in all three games have average over 2.5 turnovers per game: Podziemski (2.7), Santos (3.3), Melton (4.0) and Green (4.0). Those miscues have also been costly, allowing the opponent to score over 30 points per game off those lapses.
The Mavericks came into the game with the fourth-worst offensive rating in the NBA (110.0), having arguably one of their poorest offensive season in decades.
On Monday night, they hung 131 points on the Warriors, shooting over 58% from the field. While Golden State did a good job forcing rookie Cooper Flagg to cough the ball up seven times, they couldn't stop him one-on-one. The sensation out of Duke finished with 32 points, four rebounds and nine assists. Same goes for Daniel Gafford inside, who posted a flawless game shooting the ball, going 8-for-8 for 20 points along with seven rebounds and five assists.
Signs of life from the offense
It was no fluke that an offense that had been struggling to put up points clicked right when Moody was plugged back into the lineup. The swingman appeared to be the stabilizing presence the Warriors have lacked lately. He knocked down four of his 11 threes, dished out a handful of dimes and made his presence felt on defense, tallying three steals and two blocks.
Brandin Podziemski came into the game averaging just 10 points on 28.6% shooting from the floor and 21.1% from three over his last four games. On Monday night, he notched his fourth double-double of the season — all of them coming within the last month — finishing with 20 points, 10 rebounds and six assists in 40 minutes. Podz was active on the glass as well, grabbing five of the Warriors' 17 offensive rebounds, which they turned into 23 second-chance points.
Kristaps Porzingis (22 points) was the third player to reach the 20-point mark, doing so for the third time over his last five games. Gary Payton II also extended his streak of double-digit scoring games to eight after tallying 17 points. The bench came up big once again, chipping in 60+ points for the third time in the last five games.
Hard to talk basketball when something that devastating happens, especially to a player like Moody who's stayed consistent in his work throughout his career despite not always getting the opportunities he may have deserved. He kept his head down, and when his time finally came, he left no doubt that he could be a key piece of the post-Curry iteration of the Warriors.
While the official verdict hasn’t been announced yet, the injury will very likely impact next season as well, but for now, all we can do is hope.
"It sucks to see Moses go down, but he's in our prayers. I know he’ll bounce back" said Gary Payton II on the verge of tears when talking about his teammate.