127-115! This is the difference between Moody and Kuminga, the Warriors’ strongest lineup has the answer

Stephen Curry has played 303 minutes this season, 250 of which were spent on the court with Jonathan Kuminga. From this number, we can easily see that the Warriors have always wanted to maintain this synergy between the two, and hope that Kuminga can make good use of Curry's containment. The data does illustrate the situation. Kuminga averaged 16.4 points per game in the first eight games, shooting 53.4% ​​from the field and 41.7% from three-point range. It is obvious that playing with Curry is very helpful to him.

But is this combination effective for the Warriors' overall offense? When Curry and Kuminga were on the court at the same time this season, the Warriors' offensive score was 115.6. According to official NBA statistics, this kind of offensive firepower is below the average level of the league. On the contrary, when Curry is on the court and Kuminga is resting off the court, the Warriors' offensive score is as high as 129.7, which is among the top levels in the league.

In Thursday's game against the San Antonio Spurs, Kuminga injured his knee and missed the second half of the game. As a result, the Warriors completely exploded in the third quarter and scored 43 points, while Curry scored 22 points in the third quarter, ultimately helping the Warriors reverse and defeat the powerful Spurs.

If Kuminga is not suitable to coexist with Curry, then who can replace him in the starting position? Let's look at the most obvious answer first, Moses Moody. Moody and Curry only played a total of 59 minutes on the court this season, but the Warriors' offensive rating during this period was as high as 127.3, exceeding 97% of the league's lineups. On the contrary, in the Curry lineup without Moody, the Warriors' offensive rating is only 115.9. Of course, such a result is subject to a certain degree of chance, after all, the data sample size is too small. But this trend was already present as early as last season, with Curry's lineups being better offensively with Moody (122.7 offensive rating) than without Moody (118.6 offensive rating), so this isn't just a fluke due to a small sample size.

Moody has developed into a terrifying three-point shooter (his three-point shooting rate is as high as 44.3% this season), so the defense must limit the shooting of Curry and Moody at the same time. And Moody's three-point shooting is a good match for any lineup, but it was not until this Thursday that Warriors head coach Steve Kerr decided to let Moody play more with Jimmy Butler on the court, allowing Butler to have more space in the lineup without Curry.

Some may question whether giving Moody a chance to start and play more with Curry will harm the strength of the Warriors' second unit. The editor doesn't know the answer to this question, but I know that if Moody's playing time does not increase significantly, it must be the negligence of the coaching staff. After all, he averaged only 22.9 points per game this season.

The Warriors' current problem is obvious, that is, when Kuminga does not have Curry by his side, the offense will collapse. Last season, the offensive rating of the Kuminga-Butler lineup without Curry only exceeded 3% of the league's lineups, which was the worst in the league. After the Butler trade, the situation did not improve much, because the offensive rating of the Kuminga-Butler lineup without Curry only exceeded 7% of the league's lineups, and was still at the bottom of the league. This season, the offensive rating of Kuminga's lineup without Curry also only exceeded 8% of the league's lineups, and the Butler-Kuminga lineup without Curry only exceeded 1% of the league's lineups, which is the worst existence, bar none.

In the past, the Warriors had outside scorers like Chris Paul and Jordan Poole who could help Kuminga's lineup without Curry tide over the difficulties, but Butler needs to play with pitchers more than those people. In short, Kuminga needs to play with Curry, and Butler also needs Curry to play with Kuminga on the court. Curry is very comfortable when playing with Moody, but Moody and Kuminga do not play well together. Although what the editor says is a bit confusing, this is indeed a very complex issue.

In general, although Kuminga has been limiting Curry's performance this season, giving Moody or Richard more playing time may help Curry play better. In the end, this situation will only lead to a result that Warriors fans have long foreseen but do not want to see, that is, the Warriors will inevitably trade Kuminga at this year's trade deadline. As Kerr said in April of this year, Kuminga is indeed not suitable for Butler and Draymond Green. What the Warriors really need is another high-level 3-D player, and the transaction of Kuminga as a bargaining chip is the best way to obtain such a player.