The Golden State Warriors entered their final game of the first half of the season with a daunting presence in front of them — both figuratively and literally. Led by Victor Wembanyama, the 2-seed in the Western Conference, the San Antonio Spurs were the only thing standing between the Dubs and much-needed rest with the All-Star Break.

Especially considering the Spurs were largely healthy, and the Warriors were without their best players, particularly Steph Curry, expectations were quite low for how the Warriors would perform. However, they stayed in the game all the way through, leading by as many as 16 points midway through the third quarter.

Alas, the Warriors just couldn't find enough fuel in the tank to bring it home, and eventually blew the lead behind a 32-19 Spurs fourth quarter. The 126-113 loss brings the Warriors to 29-26 going into the All-Star Break, sitting as the 8th seed with 27 games remaining in the regular season.

After the game, Steve Kerr was asked about what changed after the Warriors nabbed that 16-point lead and how the Spurs ended up coming back on them.

"They turned up their defense. We needed to respond and get a couple hoops, and we just couldn't get anything to go. The way they closed that quarter, it just changed all the momentum that we had built throughout the game. That was the turning point."

Despite the game marking another one in the loss column, Kerr still made sure to praise his team for fighting until the end and looking good for a good chunk of the game.

"Our guys played great, really competed, moved the ball, did everything possible to win the game. It's too bad we couldn't finish it off, but proud of the guys for the effort."

The Warriors had an amazing first quarter, scoring 38 points, and went into halftime with a four point lead that ballooned to the game-high 16 after some fiery shooting opened the second half. 

Draymond Green has had an up-and-down season to say the least, but he looked like vintage Defensive Player of the Year, All-Star level Draymond on the court on Wednesday night.

He finished with a monster stat line of 17 points, 12 rebounds, and 8 assists, all while guarding Victor Wembanyama on the other end. The Frenchman did end up with 26 points, but shot under 50% from the field. Considering the 40-point bomb he dropped against the Lakers 24 hours prior and the fact that Green is about 10 inches shorter than Wembanyama, it's an extremely valiant effort that must be commended.

Outside of Green, other individual Warriors played solidly. Five others joined Green in double figures, led by De'Anthony Melton and Moses Moody, who both scored 17. However, Melton and Quinten Post were the only players to finish with a positive in the plus/minus category, with the former at +12 and the latter at +1.

In fact, Brandin Podziemski, who scored the second-most points with 16, was a -27 in his 36 minutes, alongside -16, -14, and -12 from Al Horford, Pat Spencer, and Gary Payton II, respectively.

It was a toss-up performance that showed good grit from the Warriors. With Steph Curry and Kristaps Porzingis entering the rotation after the All-Star Break, things could get interesting with this Warriors team as they make their playoff push.