Moses Moody and Jonathan Kuminga rise in Warriors’ victory over Knicks | Top Vip News

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NEW YORK – On Thursday night, the Golden State Warriors’ two most recent lottery picks, selected in the same 2021 NBA Draft, combined for a defining sequence in one of the franchise’s best wins during this season. turbulent season that is stabilizing again in the positive direction.

The Warriors led 14-0 in the blink of an eye. The New York Knicks were never able to turn the game in their direction. But they threatened at several pivot points and the engaged crowd responded on the night’s biggest possessions, rising when it looked like the Knicks were making a run.

One of those moments came with just under six minutes remaining. The Knicks had reduced it to five. The crowd was interested. Moses Moody found himself guarding Alec Burks after a switch. Burks’ lefty dribbled to a stop, pumped and exploded from the right elbow, a midfielder who is rarely blocked.

Moody stayed with him, didn’t bite the bomb, and then raised his long left arm in the air to block Burks’ jumper so well that it moved about 3 feet and into his lap. He then passed it on to Jonathan Kuminga, a transitional dynamo. Kuminga ran past two Knicks and bullied a third, Jalen Brunson, finishing an and-1 layup to lift the Warriors by seven points.

After the Warriors finished off the Knicks, 110-99, Steve Kerr came into the locker room and immediately singled out Moody, according to Steph Curry. He told the team how important Moody’s individual defense on Brunson was to the outcome of the night. Kerr then said the same thing to the media 15 minutes later, redirecting a generic question about the team’s overall performance to the individual.

“Moses did a great job of making it as difficult as possible without fouling,” Kerr said. “Forcing him to make difficult shots. That was the key.”

Moody said he learned of the assignment at the team’s morning meeting at his Manhattan hotel. The Warriors wanted to give Brunson size. Moody is 6-foot-5 and has a 7-foot wingspan. Faster guards have given him problems, passing quickly due to slower lateral movement. But Brunson succeeds with power and skill. Moody is big, strong, patient and cunning.

“You don’t want to have a defender smaller than Brunson because he’s very strong and can intimidate you in the paint,” Kerr said.

“I feel like my length limits the mid-range game,” Moody said. “Being able to play those mid-range shots while having my body weight in another place: my weight in one place and my arm in another.”

These are some of the possessions where Moody gave Brunson some trouble, pestering him into failure.

Moody was given the opportunity only because Andrew Wiggins is away from the team due to a personal matter. Wiggins likely would have received Brunson’s assignment had he been present and Moody presumably would have been kept out of the crowded rotation.

But he’s the temporary starter in Wiggins’ absence and backed up solid offensive play in Washington, D.C., with the most impactful defensive play of his young career. Until Wiggins returns (and they have both publicly and privately said they hope he returns), Moody has a chance to continue making his case for regular playing time.

But he’s performed well in roles small and large (even in the playoffs) at various other times throughout his first three seasons only to see playing time slip away. He has regularly been buried behind Wiggins, Klay Thompson, Brandin Podziemski, Chris Paul, Kuminga and Gary Payton II this season.

“It’s real life,” Moody said. “Different things happen. You have to be able to keep your head, control your emotions. All my friends are in that space where they leave university, trying to understand life. Everyone is going through different adversities. Who am I to think I should have an easy path to what I want? “That’s how things go.”

Moody’s contribution against the Knicks was of a quieter, more subtle variety. He finished with a game-high plus-23.

Kuminga night was noisier. He had 25 points on 12-of-19 shooting, giving him 46 points on 22-of-32 shooting in the last two games, lighting up again after a brief quiet period. Only one of those 32 shots was a 3-point attempt. Almost everything has reached the rim and sometimes from short mid-range.

“It should live in the painting,” Kerr said. “He’s done a great job these last six weeks, elevating his game and moving forward attacking the rim and keeping his focus on scoring in the paint.”

Kuminga is still set to take the 3. He was left open for a corner 3 with two minutes left, Curry kicked him and he took it. But he above all has decided to eliminate it from his shooting diet to almost exclusively attack open space when he gets it.

“There will be times when I will roll a 3,” Kuminga said. “By putting pressure on the rim every time, people will foul me or score easily. That gives us energy. If we need 3, we have different shooters that (do that). But obviously there has to be someone else who does something different than shoot threes.”

This was the Warriors’ seventh consecutive road victory. They are 10-2 in their last 12 and 31-27 overall, four games over a season-high .500. They are two games out of eighth place, two and a half games out of seventh and three games out of sixth place.

Confidence within the locker room is increasing. That’s normal during a winning streak. But how they win these games also matters. The younger layer of the roster continues to rise when given the opportunity.

“That’s not lost on me,” Kerr said. “We are interested in winning every game, but also in trying to strengthen our future as a franchise.”

“They’re showing it,” Curry said. “We needed guys to step up and be consistent, and that’s what they’re doing. We have to continue accumulating these performances together. It doesn’t mean that you are going to win every game, but rather identity. That’s what I always say: Are we forming an identity? “I think we are.”

(Photo: Mike Stobe/Getty Images)

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