SAN FRANCISCO —The Warriors didn’t have their best player, but they did re-establish the intensity they’d been missing over the past few games.
After falling behind by 19 early, Golden State got a surprising sparkplug performance and won the middle quarters 60-45, turning what looked destined for a blowout into a Thanksgiving eve showdown.
But as time expired, Andrew Wiggins couldn’t convert a contested layup that would have sent the game into overtime.
Without Steph Curry, who’s considered day-to-day with soreness in both knees, the Warriors put a real scare in the Thunder.
Draymond Green (8 points, 6 assists, 12 rebounds) and Jonathan Kuminga (19 points) helped lead Golden State’s comeback, but they ultimately didn’t have enough scoring to win a back-and-forth final quarter. The Warriors (12-6) scored just five points in the last 5:45, succumbing to the No. 1 seed in the West, 105-101.
“I love everything I saw in the last three quarters: the energy, the defense, the rotations,” Steve Kerr said postgame. “Guys were flying around, we had a lot of good individual contributions. That’s our team, that’s who we are, and that’s exciting for me to see the defensive excellence that I watched in the last three quarters.”
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander scored a game-high 35, adding nine rebounds and five assists in 39 minutes. The Warriors got up 50 3-pointers — an equalizer when you’re overmatched — but only scored 18 points in an intense fourth quarter. They’ve now lost three straight for their first losing streak of the season.
The Warriors started the game with the kind of energy they’ve had in the past few games — not much. After Andrew Wiggins scored the team’s first nine points, they went on a four-minute dry spell. Oklahoma City ripped off runs of 12-0 and 10-2 as the Warriors couldn’t get stops and shot 31.8% from the field.
Short-handed and possibly demoralized by the Thunder’s early storm, Steve Kerr inserted reserve guard Pat Spencer to start the second quarter. Without Curry and De’Anthony Melton, who’s out for the season, Spencer was the backup point guard to Brandin Podziemski.
It wasn’t all Spencer, but he helped flip the game.
Spencer (6 points, 4 rebounds, 3 assists in a career-high 15 minutes) gave the Warriors the juice they’ve been looking for. Playing with intensity and pace, he notched two quick assists. After getting fouled on a fast break, he popped up from the floor and pumped up the Warriors’ bench. Later, after officials didn’t call a blocking foul that would’ve put Spencer back on the free-throw line, he picked up a technical foul for arguing — and Kerr called a timeout to stick up for him alongside Curry and Draymond Green.
“Satisfying, but you want to win,” Spencer said postgame. “We’ve dropped three games in a row now. So it feels good to get minutes, but I think we have a whole team that can play. Might be back out of the rotation, might be in the next game. The goal for me when I come in is to impact winning.”
Golden State won Spencer’s first five minutes by seven points. His magic was fleeting, but Spencer appeared to ignite the Warriors, whose starters returned and clawed within 12 at halftime. Jonathan Kuminga knocked down a pair of 3s and added a thunderous slam in their strong kick.
“When Pat Spencer came in the game, he changed the game for us,” Green said. “When JK came back in the game, he changed the game for us. When BP came back in the game, he changed the game for us. Those guys, they really picked up their intensity and their force, and everybody followed.”
Kuminga added a corner 3 and an and-1 through Isaiah Hartenstein to start the second half. Then he forced a carrying violation while picking up Gilgeous-Alexander in the backcourt.The Warriors missed his athleticism and scoring punch as he sat the past two games with an illness.
A Podziemski and-1 — and flex celebration — cut Oklahoma City’s lead to seven. Jalen Williams, who scored 13 points in the first half, didn’t return after taking a shot to the face on Kuminga’s dunk.
Late in the third quarter, after Buddy Hield (17 points) sank his fourth of five 3s to bring the Warriors within three, Hartenstein picked up his fifth foul. With him in foul trouble, Chet Holmgren still sidelined and Jalen Williams out, the Thunder were about as depleted as the Warriors.
The Warriors had a window to make a move.
Kuminga made two impressive defensive stands against Gilgeous-Alexander. Then Spencer, back in to relieve Podziemski, finished a lefty layup to make it a one-point game. The best third-quarter team in the league, the Warriors won the period 33-22 and entered the fourth down one.
Kyle Anderson hit a corner 3 to give the Warriors their first lead since the opening minutes. His and-1 two minutes later put them back on top as the score teetered.
Green, sensing the moment, ramped up the defense. On one possession, he trapped Gilgeous-Alexander in a pick-and-roll, then showed-and-recovered on a second attempt, then trapped Isaiah Joe on the other side of the floor for a steal.
The Thunder looked exhausted in the fourth quarter. The Warriors denied Gilgeous-Alexander the ball and hounded him whenever he got it. Both teams went scoreless for over two minutes late in the game, the score locked at 97-96.
Gilgeous-Alexander drilled a step-back 3 with a minute left to put the Thunder up by four, but missed free throws from Oklahoma City kept the Warriors alive. A Wiggins wing 3 made it a one-possession game, and Ker had a chance to draw up a game-winning or tying play with 7.7 seconds left.
The team had been working on that play, and although Oklahoma City defended it well, Anderson inbounded it to the corner, where Green flipped a lob to Wiggins, who was just too off-balance to finish.
Wiggins got a good look, but his finger-roll was rushed. The Warriors gave it all they had but didn’t have quite enough to pull off the upset.
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