Moses Moody rarely dribbles the ball more than once or twice in a given Warriors possession. He is a good athlete, but no one would ever describe him as a high-flying phenom. His shots tend to come off the catch, after a teammate has created an advantage. 

Nothing about Moody’s game is particularly flashy. 

But his skillset is invaluable for a Warriors lineup that needs the two things the Arkansas native supplies in abundance: shooting prowess and strong man-to-man defense. 

Let’s start with the shooting. 

Moody, 23, has a quick and compact motion, one that helped him go 5 of 7 from behind the arc and score 20 points off the bench in a victory over Memphis on Monday night. 

It was his second game since coming back from a calf injury that held him out of the first two regular season matchups. Moody played 21 minutes in the first game back in Portland, and ticked up to 22 in the sequel. 

On a team where Jimmy Butler, Steph Curry, Jonathan Kuminga and even Draymond Green can be ball-dominant in the half-court, Moody’s low viscosity style fits in almost any Warriors lineup. 

“Now that you got Mo (Moses Moody) back you got another guy that can space the floor, knock down shots,” Curry said. 

The stats back it up. Last season, theWarriors outscored opponents by 4.8 points per 100 possessions when Moody was on the floor.

If Moody was not open, he passed the ball and kept the offense running smoothly. 

Moody, who rarely takes credit for his big scoring nights, deflected attention to the collective when questioned about his hot shooting. 

“It is a good day when everyone has a good day,” Moody said. “We know that Steph (Curry) Jimmy (Butler III) and Dray (Draymond Green) are going to do what they do. Everyone else being able to contribute and have a good day, that is a fun day as a team.”

But shooting is only half of the reason that the career 36.7% 3-point shooter with 11 20-point scoring efforts is so invaluable to Golden State.

Moody is also the team’s top point-of-attack defender – although Kuminga might be coming for that title, as his work on Jamal Murry and Ja Morant showed over the last week – who can stick to any ballhandler. 

He became a staple in the Warriors’ starting lineup last season due in large part to his abilities as a stopper, and should push offensively-minded Brandin Podziemski for the starting 2-guard spot in certain lineups. 

The answer might be playing the two together. After struggling with his shot over the first three games, Podziemski put in a season-high 23 points against the Grizzlies. 

“That is how the NBA works, you can have a good game, or a bad game but stringing a couple of them together that can start something special,” Moody said of Podziemski. 

• Warriors will see some new faces in playoff rematch against Rockets
• Warriors instant analysis: Second-quarter blitz pushes Golden State past Utah
• Lauri Markkanen, once coveted by Warriors, is now one of NBA’s best scorers
• Portland Trail Blazers coach Chauncey Billups pleads not guilty in rigged poker games case
• Mitty High grad Aaron Gordon out indefinitely with a strained right hamstring

Why the late start?

The Warriors will tip off at 8 p.m. against the Clippers on Tuesday, an hour later than their customary start time on NBC Bay Area broadcasts. 

This summer, theNBA’s league office told the Bay Area News Group that the move was made to accommodate local news broadcasts and programming on NBC affiliate networks, since the games will be played on free, over-the-air TV channels. The Warriors opened their season on NBC against the Lakers. 

The game will also bookend their second back-to-back of the young season.