Dub Hub: Moses Moody calls rhythm a ‘luxury’ he hasn’t experienced in his career

Rounding up all Warriors and NBA related news for Wednesday, November 27th.

In today’s Dub Hub:

• Moses Moody says rhythm is a “luxury” he hasn’t experienced throughout his career.
• Warriors move down to fourth in ESPN’s NBA Power Rankings.
• Kevin Durant returns from injury as Suns beat Lakers, 127-100, on Tuesday night.

Moses Moody has faced an uphill battle for consistent playing time since joining the Golden State Warriors in 2021. In Monday’s loss against the Brooklyn Nets, Moody led all scorers in the first half with 15 points off the bench. He was a hot 6-of-7 shooting from the field which included three three-pointers in nine minutes during the second quarter.

However, despite his impressive start to the game, Moody didn’t see the floor again until late in the third quarter and didn’t score another point for the rest of the game. He would finish the night playing a total of 16 minutes. After the game, Moody reflected on the challenge of finding rhythm, calling it a “luxury” he has yet to experience in his career.

This season, Moody is averaging 8.6 points in 16.9 minutes per game. While he’s shooting 41.3% from three on 3.7 attempts per game on the season, a recent shooting slump saw that percentage drop to 28% over the last 10 games prior to Monday’s matchup against Brooklyn.

The three-year, $39 million extension Moody signed before the season hinted at a larger role on the team. However, it seems for now, Moody will continue to struggle for consistent playing time in head coach Steve Kerr’s deep rotation.

For more on this and other news around the NBA, here is our latest news round-up for Wednesday, November 27th:

Warriors News:

The Warriors are blowing it with Moses Moody again | SF Gate

The benching has been Moody’s experience with Golden State in a nutshell. Throughout his time as a Warrior, Moody has, with truly admirable restraint, repeatedly acknowledged his inconsistent minutes without assigning any blame. In return, Kerr has, at least publicly, said that Moody deserves more time on the floor. Back in mid-October, the coach even said, “He’s going to play a big role for us,” an expectation that general manager Mike Dunleavy Jr. set back in April. The team even signed him to a three-year, $39 million extension in accordance with those statements.

But the words ring hollow when they’re not followed by corrective on-the-court action — beyond a new contract, of course — and they ring even more hollow since the action in question is just a meager desire for more consistency in playing time.

Consecutive losses send Warriors back to school at ‘intense’ practice | NBC Sports Bay Area

“After the game, we all know the mistakes we made,” Looney said. “The thing about Stack and Terry, them guys were calling out every single one of them.

“We got back to our basic principles today. Hopefully, we’ll do better for Oklahoma City.”

Oh, yes. The Oklahoma City Thunder, in first place in the West, one game ahead of the Warriors, roll into Chase on Wednesday.

“You’re not doing a lot of physical stuff and you’re not doing a lot of contact,” Kerr said, recapping Monday’s agenda. “But you have to go over the basics and the fundamentals at both ends. When we do, it shows in the next game.”

Month-long gauntlet will show if Warriors are true contenders or not | NBC Sports Bay Area

That wraps up 23 games where the Warriors’ opponents have a current combined record of 136-91, a 59.1 win percentage. The only Western Conference team with a record under .500 in those games is the Timberwolves at 8-9. The only Eastern Conference team they’ll face is the 8-10 Pacers, a team that can turn it around quickly.

NBA Power Rankings: Biggest lessons learned so far from all 30 teams | ESPN

4. Golden State Warriors

2024-25 record: 12-5

Previous ranking: 2

Next games: vs. OKC (Nov. 27), @ PHX (Nov. 30), @ DEN (Dec. 3)

No lead is safe. As good as the Warriors have been, they let two wins slip away to the Spurs and Nets in stinging fashion. They blew a 17-point lead in San Antonio in the final 13:55 and looked tired on the second night of a back-to-back. And then they squandered a 19-point lead in the final 19:13 to the Nets. The Warriors lost consecutive games despite leading by 15 or more in each for the first time since April 2000. Making those losses even more painful is the fact that the Warriors’ upcoming schedule is extremely difficult. Their next eight games are against Oklahoma City, Phoenix, Denver, Houston, Minnesota and Memphis. — Ohm Youngmisuk

Steve Kerr gives an injury update on Jonathan Kuminga and Stephen Curry

NBA News:

Durant, Beal return as Suns’ big 3 leads rout of Lakers | ESPN

Lakers: Los Angeles held its own throughout the first half but went cold after the break. The Lakers made only 8 of 34 (23.5%) shots from beyond the arc. D’Angelo Russell scored 16 points and Austin Reaves had 15.

Suns: Phoenix looked more like its former self with Durant and Beal back on the court. Nurkic recovered from a rough start to finish with 12 points and 12 rebounds. Grayson Allen added 10 points off the bench and Royce O’Neale had nine on three 3-pointers, which came as the Suns built their second-half lead.

The NBA can tinker with the All-Star Game all it wants, but there’s only one fix | The Athletic

Oh, wait. Just thought of an even better alteration. The idea to end all ideas, sure to make the All-Star Game spectacular. It’s so clear a solution, it’s hard to believe no one in the NBA hasn’t already thought of it. So sure a fix is this, it might actually sound like a crazy idea.

PLAY HARD.

If not 100 percent, then 75. If not for the whole game, for a half. Even for just the final quarter.

Boom. Problem solved.

Any format changes are but Scotch Tape. Any concocted gimmicks are covering up the real issue like lacquering barbecue sauce on dry beef. The one thing everyone wants is to see the best players earnestly compete against each other.

Kings expected to sign veteran free agent forward Jae Crowder, per ESPN’s Shams Charania

In case you missed it at Golden State of Mind:

How bad are the Warriors free throw woes?

Are the Warriors really that bad at free throws?

Yep.

Well, thanks for reading my article, Dub Nation. I hope you return for the next one.

Okay, fine, we can dig a little bit deeper than that.

How bad are the Warriors at free throws?

Really, really, really, really, really bad.

Follow @unstoppablebaby on Twitter for all the latest news on the Golden State Warriors.