Lone bright spark turns dark as injuries pile up at the Golden State Warriors

Third-year wing Moses Moody was almost a lone bright spark for the Golden State Warriors on Wednesday night, recording a team-high 21 points in the blowout 141-105 loss to the New Orleans Pelicans.

Moody was especially good in the second-quarter, with his 12 first-half points on 4-of-5 shooting from beyond the arc helping the Warriors in cutting a 25-point deficit to 13 by the main interval.

It prompted head coach Steve Kerr into starting Moody above rookie Brandin Podziemski in the second-half. Golden State remained within striking distance for most of the third-quarter, yet were completely blown away again over the final 15 minutes.

Moses Moody's positive performance turned sour with a late calf strain only adding to the Golden State Warriors' injury list

The 21-year-old was incredibly aggressive across his 25 minutes, taking a game-high 18 field-goal attempts. That was five more than any other player on the court, with Moody having only taken more than 11 field-goal attempts in two of his previous 33 games this season.

However, Moody's night ended in negative fashion, with the 2021 lottery pick forced to leave the game early in the fourth-quarter with an apparent lower leg injury.

Kerr confirmed postgame that Moody had tweaked his calf, per ESPN's Kendra Andrews. He'll be forced to have an MRI to determine the severity ahead of Golden State's upcoming four-game road-trip.

The injury comes at an incredibly frustrating time for Moody, having only just worked his way back into the rotation after three-straight DNP's. Wednesday was his second consecutive 21-point outing, having shot 7-of-9 in less than 22 minutes against the Toronto Raptors on Sunday.

Moody's calf issue adds to a growing casualty ward for the Warriors, with Gary Payton II and veteran point-guard Chris Paul having each suffered their own injuries over the last 10 days. The pair will both be out for multiple weeks as Golden State seeks to navigate their way through the trade deadline and All-Star break.

The Warriors will get some reprieve with the imminent return of Draymond Green after his indefinite suspension, and they'll be desperately hoping to get a good prognosis on Moody with their schedule not getting any easier over the foreseeable future.