Takeaways from Warriors' Win Over Nets: Dubs' Trade Target Would Be Perfect Fit

The Golden State Warriors (17-16) came back from a first-quarter 15-point deficit to beat the Brooklyn Nets (11-20) 120-107 on Monday at Barclays Center.

Stephen Curry had an efficient 27 points (8-of-15 shooting), while Jimmy Butler had an equally efficient 21 (5-of-9 shooting).

The Nets made 18 threes, but they lost the rebound, turnover and paint points battle.

Here are three takeaways from Monday's game.

Warriors Need to Make Big Offer for Michael Porter Jr.

The Warriors have a lot of offensive issues. Porter is the only player on the trade market who addresses all of them.

Great shooter? Check. Decent paint scorer? Check. Would excel in Steve Kerr's offense? Check.

And though he's not a good defender, just the fact that he's 6'10" would make the Warriors bigger and allow other players to play their natural positions instead guarding people several inches taller than them.

What's most exciting about Porter is his Klay Thompson-like ability to make contested threes. Once the ball is in his hands, it's usually going up, and he's so tall that contests don't bother his shooting motion much.

Whereas many Warriors pass up contested threes, forcing Golden State to make more passes to get a look that can result in a turnover, Porter simplifies everything by taking the first decent look.

Porter came into Monday averaging 25.8 points on 49.4 percent shooting and 40.4 percent from three. He showed out against Golden State with 27 points on 10-of-18 shooting and 5-of-9 from three.

Heavy Sports' Sean Deveney reported that the Warriors have "weighed the possibility of a Porter deal."

It might cost the Warriors Jonathan Kuminga, Moses Moody and two first-round picks to get Porter, but it's probably worth it.

Defense of Melton, Richard Temporarily Ends Bad Clutch-Game Vibes

As the Nets scored 12 points in five possessions to make this a clutch game—the least surprising development of the game, as everyone is scoring an elite rates against the Warriors down the stretch—there was an air of "here we go again." Not only were the Warriors 6-11 in clutch games entering Monday, but they were coming off blowing a late seven-point lead against the Raptors.

Then De'Anthony Melton blocked an Egor Demin three, leading to a transition layup. On the next possession, Will Richard picked Demin's pocket for another layup. Those two layups gave the Warriors a 10-point lead, effectively ending the game.

Melton has a reputation for being a disruptive defender, which is why he should be closing almost every game. Richard is not on Melton's level yet, but the rookie is vying for more playing time after having five steals against the Raptors and two steals to go along with a plus-22 plus/minus against the Nets.

Moody and Post Could Lose Starting Spots

Lost in a much-needed comeback win were disappointing performances from Quinten Post and Moses Moody.

Post played just five minutes, scoring three points with no other stats except a turnover. He was a minus-eight.

Moody played just 12 minutes, finishing 1-of-8 from the field with four points and three rebounds. He was a minus-15.

The Warriors want starting lineup continuity, which is why they might be hesitant to start Al Horford, who sits out one of the two games of every back-to-back and has been injured a lot otherwise. With that said, Horford has to at least be considered for the starting lineup, as he's looked good since returning on Christmas Day.

Moody entered Monday with the best net rating on the Warriors, per Cleaning the Glass. His defense has been the main reason for that. I bet Kerr will be even more reluctant to demote Moody, but he's scored in single digits in four of his last six games. That's not gonna cut it.