Chris Paul’s broken hand against the Detroit Pistons on Friday night at Chase Centre has a couple of silver lining opportunity cost. Not only did the Golden State Warriors manage to overcome the worst basketball club 113-109, but it also appears that Paul’s looming absence will play a bigger role in Moses Moody’s previously reduced position.
When asked on the post game platform about the Dubs’ attack strategy at point guard with Paul out, Steve Kerr mentioned Moody without being asked, stating the third-year wing will “probably” return to the starting lineup. “Cory Joseph and Brandin Podziemski will both play more at the point.”
This adds Moses back into the mix as well, since you’re taking Chris’s 30 minutes away,” he remarked. “We’ll probably spread those minutes out rather than replace them all with one guy. “Prior to Friday, Moody had not appeared in any of the previous three games and was officially the first player out of Kerr’s playing rotation (DNP-CD). In what had been a 10-man lineup, Gary Payton II sustained a Grade 2 hamstring strain on Tuesday against the Orlando Magic. However, in Thursday’s loss to the Denver Nuggets, Kerr went back to using a nine-man lineup, benching Moody despite the fact that a role seemed to materialize for him out of thin air. You wouldn’t know it from that choice, but Kerr made it clear after the game on Friday that he is “excited” to get Moody a more steady burn now that Paul will be joining Payton on the sidelines.
