Stephen Curry (16 points, three assists) did not have his usual impact from a scoring perspective throughout the Golden State Warriors’ 131-115 victory over Ja Morant, Jaren Jackson Jr. and the Memphis Grizzlies on Monday night.
However, a dominant Curry performance was not required for the team to net a fantastic home win and improve their record to 3-1 this season.
Golden State’s rising young trio of Jonathan Kuminga, Moses Moody and Brandin Podziemski took the reigns for their squad against Memphis, providing an energetic boost, excellent shot-making and a physical defensive effort.
When the final buzzer sounded, Kuminga had finished with a 25-point, 10-rebound double-double, Moody poured in 20 points in just 22 minutes off of the bench, and Podziemski contributed 23 points and six assists of his own.
The Warriors’ impressive rookie guard Will Richard even provided a spark with four points, two rebounds, one assist and one steal in nine minutes of action.
Following the contest, Curry expressed his thoughts on the impact that the franchise’s recent draft selections provided throughout the course of the night.
“You’ve got me, Draymond (Green), Jimmy (Butler), trying to be the anchors,” Curry shared with ESPN’s Anthony Slater on Monday night.
“But when you have (Kuminga) playing the way he has to start the year, (Podziemski) starting to figure out his spots and confidence, keeping things simple. Now you got (Moody) back, another guy that can space the floor, knock down shots. (Richard) coming in, changing the game defensively, force, cutting off the ball.”
“Everybody has value, and we need everybody to contribute on a night-to-night basis.”
As a collective, Golden State’s four young contributors were responsible for 72 of the their 131 points while shooting 62.0% from the field. Podziemski and Moody led the way in the three-point shooting department for the team, as they each shot 5-for-7 on their attempts from distance.
Just four games into the 2025-26 season, it appears as though the game is slowing down a bit for Kuminga, specifically, who displayed incredible patience to pair with his inevitable rim-pressure.
Heading into another tough matchup against the Los Angeles Clippers on the second night of a back-to-back and their fifth game in seven days to open the new year, the franchise’s young legs might have to replicate their performance to support the 37-year-old Curry once more.
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