Takeaways from Warriors' Win Over Knicks: Dubs Star Playing Best Ball of Season

The Golden State Warriors (23-19) dominated from the three-point line en route to a 126-113 win over the New York Knicks (25-16) on Thursday at Chase Center.

The Warriors went 20-of-45 from three, outscoring the Knicks by 18 points from downtown.

Jimmy Butler had a game-high 32 points, while Stephen Curry added 27.

Here are three takeaways from Thursday's game.

Butler Is Playing Like a Top-10 Player Right Now

Thursday was a Butler masterclass.

He had 32 points on 14-of-22 shooting with eight rebounds, four assists, two steals and zero turnovers. He finished plus-15.

Butler has had a great season overall, but the uptick in scoring efficiency while still having a great assist-to-turnover ratio over his last four games has been noticeable.

His averages in that stretch are 23.3 points per game on 60.3 percent shooting with 5.3 assists and just one turnover per game. He's also a cumulative plus-47 over the last four.

One could argue Butler has been a top-20 player for the season, as his Dunks and Threes EPM has him at 13th overall. But over the last four games, he's been even better, suggesting he's playing like a top-10 player right now.

It's all the more impressive considering Butler has missed just five games this season and is on pace to play 72, which would be his highest total since the 2016-17 season. At 36, it would be understandable if Butler were slowing down a bit, but instead he's playing better than he did last season.

Moody, Podz Should Be Kept at Trade Deadline Unless They Are in Star Package

Moses Moody had been in a rut for weeks, but he broke out of it Thursday with seven threes. Brandin Podziemski was even more stellar, finishing 8-of-9 from the field with 19 points, five rebounds and two steals. He was a game-high plus-22.

Many fans want both to be traded, and to be clear, I understand the frustration. Podz has not taken a third-year leap, and Moody has not taken advantage of his starting spot with consistent play. Both were considerably better down the stretch of last season.

But there isn't an obvious upgrade you can get for either or both of them.

For example, the Warriors might want to target Robert Williams III or Daniel Gafford in one trade and save their Kuminga trade for someone else. If so, they'll need Moody's contract to make the money work.

As nice as it would be to have Williams or Gafford, the Warriors would miss Moody's perimeter defense even more.

If the Warriors need to include Podz to get Trey Murphy III or Moody to get Michael Porter Jr., then you do that without second-guessing it. But otherwise they should stay put.

Post Will Lose His Starting Spot Soon

The Warriors lost the first 5:05 of the game 21-11, and in that time Quinten Post went 0-of-2 from the floor with no other stats.

Overall, Post played just 12 minutes, scoring five points on 2-of-9 shooting with just two rebounds and one turnover.

Meanwhile, Al Horford had another solid game, scoring five points on 2-of-5 shooting with five assists, five rebounds, two blocks, one steal and one turnover.

On the one hand, it's clear that Horford is more comfortable playing in the Butler-with-no-Curry lineups than the Curry-with-no-Butler lineups. So if Horford starts, it might eat into how many minutes he can play in the Butler lineups later.

But on the other hand, the Warriors can't keep losing the first strech of the game.

The Warriors have just one more back-to-back before the All-Star break, which occurs on Jan. 19 and 20. My guess is Horford will be starting on Jan. 22 and will remain there until at least the last game before the break on Feb. 11.

But this whole idea might get thrown off when the Warriors make a trade. If they get a big wing, maybe they'll feel better about starting Draymond Green at the 5. If they get a center upgrade, they might start that center.

In any event, I'm guessing Post will not be in the opening lineup much longer. He'll still get plenty of minutes, but maybe not being in the starting five will take some pressure off him.