It wasn’t for lack of trying.
Undermanned without their four stars, the Warriors hung around for 48 minutes before finally falling to the Nuggets, 131-124, in Denver on Monday night.
Though it was a season-high fifth consecutive loss, Monday’s defeat was one the Dubs can actually feel okay about. The game was in the balance until the final minute, the Warriors trading blows with MVP candidate Nikola Jokic despite only dressing nine players.
The Warriors got a career-best performance from Moses Moody (30 points, 10-of-23 shooting) and one of the best performances of the season from Jordan Poole (32 points, 11-of-19, eight 3-pointers). They also played hard and entertained, eventually falling for the simple reason that they didn’t have an answer for Jokic (32-15-13).
The bad news is that the loss concludes an 0-4 road trip. The Warriors have lost nine of their last 11 and sit only three games up on the Dallas Mavericks for the No. 5 seed in the Western Conference. The Utah Jazz, currently the No. 4 seed, also lost on Monday, meaning the Warriors also failed to extend their shrinking 2.5 game lead in the No. 3 spot. They play again on Tuesday at home vs. the Clippers.
Here are three takeaways from Monday’s game:
Warriors didn’t want to be here
Let’s get to this right off the bat. The primary takeaway from this game was clear before it even started: The Golden State Warriors did not want to play this game, and decided to treat it as a scheduled loss…even if they almost won.
The matchup vs. Denver was supposed to take place on Dec. 30, but the league postponed the game because too many Nuggets were in the league’s health and safety protocols at the time.
Steve Kerr voiced his displeasure with the league’s decision back in December, making clear he thought the change in date — a Nuggets issue — put the Warriors at a disadvantage. Nuggets head coach Michael Malone disagreed when he spoke on Sunday night, saying that “certain teams think that when games are rescheduled it only affects one team,” pointing out that the Nuggets are playing their fourth game in five nights.
Kerr wasn’t swayed by that argument pregame.
“It puts us in a way tougher spot than them,” Kerr said. “We had to fly here again. For them they didn’t have to make an extra trip. They have to play a back-to-back I know, but this was just another rescheduled game around the league that are inconvenient for everybody, but necessary to keep the league going. So you just do what you have to do.”
Kerr’s response was to have Stephen Curry, Klay Thompson and Draymond Green all not make the trip, and rest them ahead of Tuesday’s game vs. the Clippers. The Warriors started Juan Toscano-Anderson, Jordan Poole, Moses Moody, Damion Lee and Kevon Looney.
Kerr definitely felt screwed by the league on this one and he wasn’t about to play along.
Mad-Eye Moody
If there has been one positive from this brutal stretch for the Warriors, it’s been the emergence of Moses Moody.
Moody has been looked at as the “other rookie” this season, largely overshadowed by the spectacular athleticism of No. 7 overall pick Jonathan Kuminga. It’s also been harder for Moody to see the floor consistently, the Warriors more in need of athletic bigs than wings when healthy.
But lately, Moody has shot the ball so well the Warriors can’t afford to keep him out of the rotation. Heading into Monday’s game, Moody was 22-of-42 from three in his last 13 games. It was all a precursor to the best performance of his young career.
Moody finished with 30 points (5-of-12 from 3), scoring 22 of those in the first half. That’s the most points in a half for a Dubs rookie since Stephen Curry. Moody set the tone early with three quick 3s in the first quarter, establishing that the shorthanded Warriors were there to compete rather than roll over.
With more question marks than ever this season, it stands to reason that Moody will be a part of the postseason rotation as long as he continues to shoot the ball well. The same is true for Kuminga, who had another solid game in his own right (16 points).
It’s hard to imagine a contending team with two rookies in the rotation — which perhaps begs the question of if the Warriors are indeed a contending team — but both Moody and Kuminga are providing energy and productivity on a consistent basis when they are seeing the floor.
The consequences of load management
Warriors head coach Steve Kerr has to do what’s best for his team, but that doesn’t mean there aren’t consequences for the fans.
This was on full display before Monday’s game in Denver, when a young Warriors fan decked out in a Stephen Curry jersey was brought to tears upon finding out that Curry would not be playing.
The load management issue is a frequent topic of debate in NBA circles, largely because it diminishes the product for fans who may only be able to see a handful of games per year, or for fans who only get a few chances to see their favorite out-of-market team visit.
For a young fan who loves Stephen Curry living in Denver, there are only two chances per year max to see their favorite player. Hopefully the Warriors can figure out a way to get this youngster tickets for Thursday’s game, when the Golden State returns to Denver for the final time this season.