The Golden State Warriors handled the Dallas Mavericks easily, a little less than a month ago on Christmas Day, using a 40-point first quarter to cruise to a 126-116 win. In that game, though, the Warriors were blessed by a 14-point, 9-rebound, 9-assist near-triple double from Jimmy Butler. This time around, Butler wasn't anywhere to be found.

The Warriors continue to try to find their footing in the aftermath of Butler's devastating ACL tear that he suffered on Monday night, but weren't able to put it all together on Thursday on the road against the Mavericks.

Despite getting 38 points from Steph Curry and posting a 39-point third quarter to lead by as many as 7 with under 10 minutes to play, the Warriors eventually lost their second game in a row, 123-115.

After two demoralizing losses that followed one of the Warriors' leaders going down for the season, Steve Kerr addressed how the Warriors' morale has been in the locker room and how they're viewing the foreseeable future.

"We can't predict what's going to happen. Every game is important. You see the standings, you see where we are. The players — I loved their effort tonight, the energy on the bench was great. We're going to keep fighting, and whatever happens, happens. It's not up to us anyways. It's up to the front office and (Warriors GM Mike Dunleavy Jr.), so we'll see where everything goes in a couple weeks. We're just going to keep competing."

Kerr is clearly alluding to the potential of a trade that has also hung over the team ever since Jonathan Kuminga became trade eligible on January 15 and demanded to be sent elsewhere. For now, the loss dropped the Warriors to 25-21, keeping them in the 8th-seed in the West but now positioning them 3 games behind the Rockets, Lakers, and Suns for the 4th-seed.

En route to the 8-point loss, the Warriors posted a peculiar set of box scores, to say the least.

Curry's 38 points led all scorers, but he ended up as a -24 in plus/minus and recorded just one assist. The lone assist points to a concerning trend: prior to the Butler injury, Curry had recorded 5+ assists in 9 consecutive games, but has had just 4 total assists in the two games since.

De'Anthony Melton's plus/minus was nearly the exact opposite of Curry's, finishing as a +22 as he scored 22 points to check in as the Warriors' second-leading scorer. He continues to provide excellent play on the perimeter, even as he remains on a minutes restriction.

Moses Moody scored 12 points, but the final Warrior to score in double figures wasn't Brandin Podziemski, Draymond Green, or Al Horford. It was Kuminga.

In just 9 minutes across the first and second quarters, Kuminga had 10 points on a perfect 3/3 from the field and 4/4 from the free throw line, and was a staggering +18. However, Kuminga had to exit the game prematurely due to an ankle twist and minor left knee hyperextension when he landed awkwardly on a fast break drive to the rim.

Reports say that it's not expected to be anything serious for Kuminga, but he was ruled out for the rest of the game at halftime and is set to get an MRI on Friday.

The Warriors are experiencing some odd times, and they'll hope to correct things sooner rather than later. Their two upcoming bouts on this road trip aren't going to make it easy, though, with a pair of games on Saturday and Monday against the Minnesota Timberwolves looming.