Not every unforgettable night announces itself. The Golden State Warriors spent this season living in that space, where the version you thought you understood rarely showed up the same way twice. This series is about the nights when that uncertainty turned into something better, when the spotlight moved somewhere unexpected and stayed there. I’m talking about the ones you didn’t see coming until they were already happening.
Back in November on the road against the Pelicans, the night belonged to Moses Moody before most people realized he’d taken it.
Stephen Curry had just put up 46 and 49 in back-to-back games in San Antonio, the kind of stretch that turns everyone else into supporting cast whether they like it or not. So when the Golden State Warriors rolled into New Orleans the next night, the script felt obvious: Steph handles the heavy lifting, everybody else fills in the gaps, get out of there clean.
Steph went 2-of-11 for nine points instead. The Warriors won by 18 anyway because Moody decided the game was his.
He nailed seven threes in the first quarter!! before the game had time to become anything, he had already turned it into something else entirely. Career high in threes for a full game, and he got there in 12 minutes, against a Pelicans team looking to steal one at home from a dynasty.
What makes the seven in the quarter stand out isn’t just the volume, it’s who else has done it as a Warrior. Stephen Curry and Klay Thompson. That’s the list, folks. That’s the entire history of the franchise for something like this, a team that has spent a decade redefining what shooting looks like. Moody didn’t join a club so much as ascended into rarefied Golden State air. Anytime your name is mentioned next to the greatest shooters of all time, you’re doing it the right way.
That’s all it really was. Read the possession, trust the pass, don’t overthink the shot. He made his first two, missed one, then made five straight to close the quarter, and by the time New Orleans started reacting, the damage had already settled in.
He finished with 32 points on 10-of-16 from the field, eight threes, a career night that didn’t feel forced or hunted. It just kept happening, possession after possession, putting his name into history.
I know I’m one for major basketball hyperbole, but in this case it’s not the comparison, projection, or what it means long-term. I enjoyed the simplicity of it where for one night, the best shooter on the floor Steph Curry and the offense didn’t break trying to adjust to that. It just flowed in a different direction.
