It seemed like the Golden State Warriors were steady as the 8th-seed in the Western Conference. They were multiple games ahead of the No. 9 and No. 10 teams, the Clippers and the Trail Blazers, especially considering the former traded away two of their three best players, James Harden and Ivica Zubac, for pieces for the future.

With a 17-point lead in the second quarter over the Clippers in their home game on Monday night, it looked like the Warriors would maintain that status quo. However, it didn't end up that way at the end of the night.

An abysmal second half saw the Warriors squander a 14-point halftime lead and score just 45 points in the second half to fall to the Clippers, 114-101. Now, their lead over the Los Angeles team in the Western Conference is just 1.5 games, and their deficit from that coveted 6th-seed that the other Los Angeles team, the Lakers, currently owns has risen to 5.5 games.

After the game, Steve Kerr addressed the ups-and-downs the Warriors experienced in this loss.

"(The Clippers) were great in the second half. We played fantastic in the first half. Our defense was excellent, we were flying around and getting some good shots... The game slowed down (in the third quarter) and we had to play in the half court. They were really good defensively in that second half. (Yanic Konan) Niederhauser came in and really controlled the paint. We just couldn't get anything to go."

It might not be the most reassuring to hear that a rookie big man was the catalyst behind the tide turning heavily in the Clippers' favor. Kerr's short analysis reflects how the game looked to play out: a tale of two halves where the Warriors just couldn't get much done in the second half.

Things looked pretty good for the first 24 minutes of the game. The Warriors were stifling the Clippers on defense, holding them to just 19 points in the first quarter and 23 points in the second. They shot nearly 45% from the field and over 43% from three-point range, turning what looked to be an all-around solid performance for a much-needed win.

The second half was just a completely different story on both sides of the ball. The Clippers ended up scoring 72 points in the second half, shooting nearly 62% from the field in a dominant turnaround.

The Warriors, on the other hand, could barely muster up 23 points in the third quarter and 22 points in the fourth. It's a reversal of fortunes from the last few games for the Dubs, where they tended to start slow and picked up the pace in the second half and fourth quarter, in particular. 

Two-way guard Nate Williams, recently signed to the team, saw action in just his second game of the season and played very well, scoring a career-high 18 points in 22 minutes of action. He, along with Quinten Post, was one of only two Warriors to finish the game with a positive plus/minus.

Brandin Podziemski led the team with 22 points, but that mark is a bit sour considering he had 20 points in the first half and shot 1-6 from the field in the second half.

Ultimately, this was not a good game for the Warriors by any means, and they'll have to get things back on track quickly if they wish to remain the 8th seed. They'll get two days off before a tough road test against the Houston Rockets on Thursday.