The Golden State Warriors are set to find themselves even more shorthanded for the first of a four-game road-trip against the Chicago Bulls at United Center on Friday.
Already without the recently injured Chris Paul and Gary Payton II, the Warriors will also be without third-year wing Moses Moody who suffered a calf injury during the fourth-quarter of the blowout loss to the New Orleans Pelicans on Wednesday.
The Golden State Warriors chances of returning to winning ways has been dealt a blow with an injury to 21-year-old Moses Moody
Moody has been listed out on the injury report with a left calf strain, having left the floor early after his team-high 21 points against the Pelicans. Despite a recent three-game stretch of DNP's, Moody had returned to the rotation and been Golden State's leading scorer over the last two games.
Meanwhile, Draymond Green's imminent return will have to wait at least another game, with the former Defensive Player of the Year still ramping up his preparation from an absence that will extend to a 15th game.
The Warriors desperately need the return of the veteran forward, having given up an average of 137 points over their last two games. Golden State have also missed Green's playmaking, particularly since Paul fractured his left hand against the Detroit Pistons last week.
Moses Moody went to the locker room after grabbing his lower left leg pic.twitter.com/5uBthPWW5f
— Warriors on NBCS (@NBCSWarriors) January 11, 2024
While the Warriors' season goes from bad to worse after a 2-5 record across a seven-game home-stand, the Bulls' fortunes have taken a turn for the better since the start of December.
Chicago started out losing 14 of their first 19 games, leading to uproar urging the franchise to move on from this era centered around Zach LaVine, DeMar DeRozan and Nikola Vucevic. However, the Bulls have responded to win 13 of their past 20 games, including seven of their past 11.
Across the past 11 games, Chicago ranks second in defense, coincidentally behind the Pelicans who conceded just 105 points to Golden State on Wednesday. Without the playmaking of Paul and Green, along with the shooting of Moody, the Warriors will badly need a big performance from superstar Stephen Curry who's combined for just 24 points over the last two games.
Friday's game will signal the first night of a back-to-back for the Warriors, with a meeting against the well rested Bucks in Milwaukee on Saturday coming after they blew out the league-leading Boston Celtics on Thursday.