Golden State needs more, and Moore delivers EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. Warriors guard Monta Ellis drove the lane, drew New Jersey center Brook Lopez to him and dumped a pass to center Mikki Moore. Moore finished the play with a two-hand dunk. It was his eighth basket of the night, all coming in the paint. Moore helped the Warriors score 60 points in the paint and post a 105-89 victory Wednesday over the New Jersey Nets.
"The difference is I didn't drop any of (Ellis') passes tonight," Moore said after scoring a season-high 16 points against one of his former teams. "We learned that if we swing the ball to the weak side, and then attack the (opponent's big men), there's no help for the drop-off pass."
It was perhaps Moore's best game as a Warrior, and it came when they needed it most. Coming off their worst offensive output of the season, and riding a four-game losing streak, the Warriors badly needed some high-percentage baskets.
After getting abused on the glass in Monday's loss at Oklahoma City, Moore helped the Warriors win the battle of the boards (46-44) by grabbing seven rebounds, his second-highest total of the season.
Moore's biggest contributions are probably made by his lips. They call him "Loud Mouth" because he's always in his teammates' ears with the volume up. He's always encouraging his teammates, giving them motivation. Even when he's on the bench, he's offering advice, rallying the troops and shouting help to the players on the court.
"I try to be a coach on the court. Monta is not that vocal. Corey (Maggette) is not either. So I'm trying to be a vocal coach on the floor and help in that aspect. "
Lopez, the former Stanford center in his second season, is already paying big dividends for the Nets. Lopez is one of the bright spots on a franchise in disarray.
Lopez is averaging 19.3 points, 9.1 rebounds and 2.2 blocks in 36.3 minutes per game. All of those numbers are significantly higher than last season. He leads all NBA centers in scoring and trails only Portland center Greg Oden in blocks.
Lopez leads all second-year players with 11 double-doubles. He had 19 last season.
"He has grown," Nets coach Kiki Vandeweghe said. "He's bigger and stronger. He's a very smart player. He understands the game. He's improving every single day."
Marcus Thompson II
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