
The Golden State Warriors' injury report was extensive, to say the least. Despite the relatively clean bill of health the Dubs have experienced over the last handful of games — one of the major reasons they picked up five wins in the past six games — it was a landslide of absences on Friday.
The marquee matchup at Chase Center against the Oklahoma City Thunder turned into a long-shot upset bid as Steph Curry, Jimmy Butler, and Draymond Green were all ruled out prior to the game.
Additionally, Jonathan Kuminga, who was set to see minutes for the first time in six games due to the injuries, was also eventually ruled out, meaning the Warriors would be down four players against the best team in the league.
All of the absences became abundantly clear once the second quarter rolled around, and the Thunder would not squander an easy victory. The Warriors were eventually steamrolled in their worst loss of the year, 131-94.
In such a demoralizing loss, honesty is necessary, and Steve Kerr was not lacking in his postgame press conference.
"It was a tough night. Obviously, we’re short-handed, but I don't think that is an excuse for the way we played. We weren't well organized, we didn't compete well together, disappointing. Obviously (we were) playing the best team in the league, but I thought we could have been a lot better."
The Thunder won their 30th game of the season, while the Warriors fell to 18-17 on the year.
From the opening tipoff, it was clear that the talent disparity was too vast between the Warriors without their top three players and the relatively healthy Thunder team.
Things finally clicked for the Thunder at the 7:19 mark, and though Will Richard had just made a three to cut the lead to merely two points, it was the last points the Warriors would score for nearly five minutes. The Thunder rattled off a crushing 19-0 run that vaporized any real hope that the Warriors may have had in this game.
It didn't particularly matter what lineup combination Kerr put onto the court. Every Warrior was at least -10 in plus/minus — Pat Spencer finished as an incredible -41 — and the only player to shoot above 50% was Al Horford.
Horford's 13 points came on 4-6 shooting from the field and 3-5 shooting from beyond the arc — a solid performance that unfortunately fails to have any real impact. In addition, Horford playing on Friday likely means he'll be out for the second leg of the Warriors' back-to-back on Saturday against the Utah Jazz.
The next 10 Warriors games will be in the state of California. They'll look to bounce back from this loss and renew their attempt at a hot streak less than 24 hours later.