The Warriors stacked their squad to the brim. There are future Hall of Famers everywhere you look. But in the midst of all the pedigree, there’s a silent guardian. A man who lets his game do the talking, rather than seeking the spotlight. Golden State has a somewhat forgotten warrior in their arsenal. But that’s who warrior Steve Kerr has to leave on the battlefield. And with the prospect of a pumped-up Anthony Edwards running at you with all his might, it’s not Jimmy Butler, Stephen Curry, or even Draymond Green who can save the day. It’s Moses Moody.
Moses isn’t the fastest, or the most agile. Those qualities kept him off the radar against some point guards who use their center of gravity to their advantage. But then he found his comfort zone – burly forward with an eye for domination. The 6-foot-5er uses his 7-foot-1 wingspan to his advantage. So, why was he subjected to just 34 minutes across 4 games against the T-Wolves?
Steve Kerr needs to throw in Moody to prevent an Ant domination. It’s do or die, heading into the 5th game with a 3-1 deficit.
“Yeah, I’d play Moody mostly because I want to throw somebody at Ant, right? Yeah. Give him a chance to miss a couple shots. And your options are not great beyond that for if we’re talking about shooting. They just don’t have them. Quentin Post is not even taking shots in this series. And he really wasn’t in the Houston series, except for like after game two or whatever it was. But try Moody, mid-sized player, can scrap with you, hit a loose ball, bounce around off of Ant a little bit,” said Tim Kawakami and Marcus Thompson on Warriors Plus Minus.
Oct 30, 2024; San Francisco, California, USA; Golden State Warriors guard Moses Moody (4) dribbles upcourt against the New Orleans Pelicans in the third quarter at Chase Center. Mandatory Credit: David Gonzales-Imagn Images
This comes after calls of complacency towards Anthony Edwards in the game, who got on the ball way too much. If it were anyone else, they would’ve had easy counters. But for Tim and Marcus, the Warriors can’t let Ant-Man get on the ball that easily.
“Didn’t Draymond say that? Like we can’t just let [Ant] get the ball. They hate doing that. Although Stackhouse does it sometimes. They’ve done a little bit more of that and go, okay, Mike Conley, you want to take 14 threes? Go ahead and take 14. Julius Randle, you want to take 14 threes? You might beat us with it. But we are not letting this guy beat us straight off the bat,”
said the pair on the pod.
But of course, while Moses Moody may be able to save the day, he can only do so much. Golden State’s warriors are suffering from success. The future Hall of Famers are burning the kitchen down with their Head Chef out indefinitely. It’s ironic, as this is why they got Jimmy Butler in the first place. But Steve Kerr needs Buckets, and the likes of Green, Brandin Podziemski and Buddy Hield to go big in Minnesota.
Steve Kerr looks to usual suspects to run the show in Game 5
The straight shooters were off in Game 4. For a man like Butler, averaging 14.1 FGA in the playoffs this season, just 9 made is disappointing. Everyone thought his Game 3 33-pointer with 26 FGA would set the tone for the series, but he managed just 14/6/3 shooting 5-for-9 from the field. “Jimmy was under the weather last night. He really was not feeling well and that definitely impacted him… Everyone knows who Jimmy is. He’s one of the great playoff performers and I expect him to have a big game tomorrow,” said Kerr. Butler’s been cleared to play, so he has a lot to prove in Game 5.
He wasn’t the only one off, though. Brandin Podziemski has had a horrific two games leading up to this one. He made just 4 of his attempted 24 field goals, and 1 of his 8 attempts from deep. Combine that with just 16 accumulated points in both, and you’ve got a problem. The same goes for Buddy Hield (9-from-22 FGs in the last two) and Draymond Green (7-from-18 FGs in the last two). And seeing this atrocity led Kawakami and Thompson to give their Warriors a final war cry before the do-or-die Game 5 at the Target Center.
“They were making shots. Draymond hit four threes. Buddy was on fire. That’s another one. Yeah. Jimmy’s got to play. Jimmy’s got to play great again. Like I thought it was just assumed he was going to play great and mean either he’s tired or it just didn’t work out for him tonight. Nick wouldn’t take nine shots. That was not they cannot have that again. Ken. That cannot happen.”
Apr 4, 2025; San Francisco, California, USA; Golden State Warriors head coach Steve Kerr signals to the team during the game against the Denver Nuggets in the second period at Chase Center. Mandatory Credit: David Gonzales-Imagn Images
You simply can’t understate how much the quartet of Butler, Green, Podz, and Hield mean to the Warriors in Curry’s absence. Steve Kerr has Moses Moody to guard the Ant-Man, but the Timberwolves have 4 other players on the court. The Warriors need to brace for what’s coming, and be ready for the counterpunch.
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