What we learned as Moses Moody drops career-high 32 points in Warriors’ huge win originally appeared on NBC Sports Bay Area
BOX SCORE
Winning three consecutive games might not feel so special for the Oklahoma City Thunder or the Denver Nuggets, but it’s worthy of a small celebration for the Warriors.
Golden State’s 124-106 win over the Pelicans on Sunday in New Orleans represents its first sign of momentum this season, guarantees at least a .500 road trip and assures the Warriors (9-6) will have a winning record when they return to the Bay Area on Friday.
Moses Moody led the offense, dropping a career-high 32 points on high efficiency, while Jimmy Butler contributed a double-double with 18 points and 10 assists, adding three rebounds. Brandin Podziemski continued his scoring uptick, putting in 19 points, while Buddy Hield chipped in 11.
The Warriors recorded 34 assists and drained a season-high 24 3-pointers, on 56 attempts, with Moody most responsible for showing the way.
Here are three observations from the fourth game of a six-game road trip:
Moody bounces back
If anyone on the Warriors needed a bounce-back game, it was Moody. Playing 30 minutes Friday night, he scored four points on 2-of-8 shooting, including 0-of-4 from beyond the arc in the win over the Spurs in San Antonio.
Moody bounced back in one of the most fantastic ways possible. He tried to bury the Pelicans early, scoring 21 points in the first quarter on 7-of-8 shooting from deep. He was plus-17 for the quarter and accounted for nearly half of Golden State’s 44 points, its highest total for any quarter this season.
Moody’s 21 points and seven triples represent career-highs in a single quarter for both categories. The seven 3-pointers are a career high for a game and are the most treys made by any player in any quarter this season.
Moody’s initial blast immediately gave the offense a jolt before he cooled over the final three quarters. His 32 points came on 10-of-16 shooting from the field, including 4-of-5 from the line. He was plus-22 over 32 minutes.
Bench brings a punch
Golden State’s bench, among the most offensively potent in the league, averaging 40.2 points per game before nosediving in the two previous games in San Antonio, returned to form at Smoothie King Center.
After scoring a total of 42 points in the two games against the Spurs, the bench crew produced 48 against the Pelicans.
Podziemski’s 19 points, on 8-of-13 shooting from the field, including 3-of-7 from distance, represent his highest total since he dropped 23 against the Grizzlies on Oct. 27.
Hield, in the deep freeze the past two weeks, averaging six points per game in November, tossed in 11 points on 4-of-8 shooting from the field, including 3-of-6 from beyond the arc. This is the second time this season he has made at least three triples.
Al Horford dropped in two 3-pointers for six points, while Quentin Post, Pat Spencer, Gui Santos and Trayce Jackson-Davis combined for the other 12 points.
Quiet night for the Chef
New Orleans came with a game plan Golden State has seen many times, rolling out the Anybody-but-Steph defense.
And as bad as the Pelicans have been this season, it’s something in their bag. They have in 6-foot-8 Herbert Jones one of the league’s best perimeter defenders, and 6-foot-8 Trey Murphy III provided plenty of supplemental assistance on the 6-foot-3 Curry.
The result was double- and triple-teams that never let Curry get any shooting rhythm – he even missed a free throw – and nudged him toward a decoy role. He didn’t sink his first goal until the third quarter, on his seventh attempt, a transition layup on a charity dime from Butler. His first 3-pointer came three minutes later.
Coming off successive performances of 46 and 49 points over his last two games, Curry finished with nine points on 2-of-11 shooting from the field, including 1-of-6 from beyond the arc. His gravity still was an asset, as he finished plus-18 over 28 minutes.
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