The Golden State Warriors losing streak has extended to three after they fell short of a memorable comeback against the Oklahoma City Thunder at Chase Center on Wednesday night.
After trailing by 18 late in the first-half, the Warriors mounted a comeback despite the absence of 2x MVP Stephen Curry. They had a 96-93 lead with just under six minutes remaining, before going cold in what resulted as a 105-101 defeat to the Western Conference leaders.
Late-game offense is becoming a familiar for the Warriors
After surrendering 17 and 18-points leads in their last two games against the San Antonio Spurs and Brooklyn Nets, the Warrior offense stagnated for a third-straight game down the stretch. They went nine-straight possessions without a point late in the fourth-quarter, and while their defense still gave them a shot to tie or win the game at the end, Andrew Wiggins' rushed layup attempt was never close.
As disappointing as the final minutes were, Golden State will clearly look back to the first-quarter as the period in which they lost the game. Wiggins had all of the Warriors first nine points, including a four-point play, to open up a 9-6 lead, but the Thunder dominated the remainder of the quarter to find themselves up 39-23.
No Curry meant first legitimate rotation minutes for Pat Spencer, with the two-way contracted guard providing a spark off the bench early in the second-quarter. Jonathan Kuminga responded from a poor opening period with 10 second-quarter points, including a vicious slam that left Thunder star Jalen Williams dazed and out for the rest of the game.
After missing the last two games through illness, Kuminga then added another nine points in the third as Golden State found themselves within one. With Shai Gilgeous-Alexander becoming tiresome and Isaiah Hartenstein in foul trouble, a surprise comeback win appeared on the cards for the Warriors.
Unfortunately they were unable to capitalize on the opportunity, with Wiggins and Kuminga failing to execute with extra reliance placed upon them in Curry's absence. Both had their moments but were rather inefficient -- Kuminga went scoreless in the fourth and finished with 19 points and four rebounds on 8-of-21 shooting, while Wiggins had just five after the first quarter in recording 16 points on 4-of-17 from the field.
It was that type of game with two elite defenses taking charge in the second-half. The Warriors did get 17 points from Buddy Hield in a slight bounce-back performance, while Kyle Anderson also added 10 off the bench.
Draymond Green tried to will his team to victory purely on the defensive end, making some huge plays while finishing with 10 points, 13 rebounds and seven assists. Brandin Podziemski had 12 points, eight rebounds and five assists as the starting point guard, but shot just 4-of-10 from the floor and 1-of-4 from three.
The Warriors shot 35.4% as a team and 32% from 3-point range, and will now desperately be hoping to get Curry back for Saturday's showdown against Kevin Durant and the Suns in Phoenix.
