Following a blowout loss to the Phoenix Suns on Friday night, the Golden State Warriors found a way to respond in a 104-99 win over the Orlando Magic at Chase Center on Monday.
With Draymond Green back in the lineup after a seven-game absence, the Warriors were able to defy a 23-6 fourth-quarter run by the Magic to push themselves back above a .500 record.
Moses Moody continued his case for a starting role on Monday
Golden State finished the game on a 14-7 run over the closing minutes, with the run arguably punctuated by a corner three from Moses Moody in the final 70 seconds as the fourth-year wing got a rare opportunity to close alongside veterans Stephen Curry, Andrew Wiggins, Draymond Green and Kevon Looney.
Moody finished with 17 points on 6-of-9 shooting from the floor, including 3-of-5 from 3-point range in 24 minutes off the bench. It was perhaps the best performance of a 10-game span where Moody is taking advantage of increased opportunity, subsequently delivering career-best form just hen the Warriors need it most.
The 22-year-old has been Golden State's third-leading scorer behind Stephen Curry and Andrew Wiggins over the last 10 games, averaging 12.8 points while shooting nearly 50% from the floor and 44.1% from beyond the arc on nearly six attempts per game.
There's no secret behind Moody's improved play, having thrived thanks to increased rotation minutes. The former 14th overall pick has averaged 25 minutes during this stretch -- 10 more than his career average of 15 minutes per game.
Both he and Kerr pointed to that exact fact during their post-game press conferences. "Being able to get the minutes and get the consistency makes the game a lot easier for me," Moody said.
“Just confidence. He’s getting consistent minutes and making the most of them," Kerr said after his team moved to 25-24 on the season ahead of a couple of huge days for the franchise that could still hold major roster change.
The problem with that is Golden State fans have been crying out for Moody to play more consistently for years, believing that this was the sort of production he was capable of if given such an opportunity.
Perhaps Kerr has finally come to this realization, though it feels like that's emanated more out of necessity than anything given the team's recent injury issues. There's even an argument for Moody to be a starter, with Buddy Hield having been Golden State's starting two-guard despite shooting just 31.4% from 3-point range over the last 10 games.
Whether Kerr continues to provide Moody this same opportunity going forward remains to be seen, with some of that likely to be determined by what the Warriors do ahead of the trade deadline.