Depleted Warriors Run Out of Firepower in Loss to Thunder

On April 13, 2010, the Golden State Warriors, headed into the final game of the season with almost nobody healthy. Only five players received substantial court time against the Portland Trail Blazers, and one of them fouled out. They were forced to play multiple injured players despite ruling them out prior to the start of the game. In spite of this, the remaining guys rose above the mess and pulled out a win when simply staying competitive would have seemed miraculous.

Saturday’s 114-108 loss to the Oklahoma City Thunder, obviously, was not exactly the same. It was near the beginning of the season rather than right at the end, and they didn’t win. But in terms of a thin roster scratching and clawing to somehow make a game balanced when it should have been one-sided, it wasn’t far off.

The Warriors thought they would have 10 players available for the matchup. Then Eric Paschall was ruled out at the last minute with a hip contusion. Then Omari Spellman tweaked his ankle in the second quarter and never returned. With just eight players remaining against a Thunder team with 13 healthy guys (10 of whom played), the Warriors went down by as much as 23 points and trailed by 17 at halftime. It felt like the kind of game in which the Warriors just wouldn’t be able to keep up, especially considering it was the second night of a back-to-back following a contest in Minnesota.

But then something happened in the third quarter. The offense, which had been sporadically good in the first half, found its footing. D’Angelo Russell made some shots, as did Alec Burks. Glenn Robinson III stepped up a little. The Warriors used defense to create offense. Add all of that up and after a buzzer-beating three-point shot from Russell to end the quarter, the Warriors entered the fourth quarter with the game tied at 84. They even took a brief lead early in the final frame.

In the end, however, it wasn’t enough. Eventually, the Warriors’ lack of depth showed. The players were clearly tired on the court. The defense couldn’t keep up with good Thunder ball movement and shooting. The offense stopped scoring efficiently. They were able to trim the Thunder lead to as little as four points, but eventually, the Warriors just ran out of gas and now sit alone in last place in both the Western Conference and the entire NBA (albeit by half a game).

As with many of the Warrior losses this season, several individual players shined. Russell had another strong game, scoring an efficient 30 points to go along with seven assists. He continues to be the best active Golden State player and is increasing his trade value if the Warriors do eventually choose to explore that route. Burks continued his recent trend of strong offensive showings by dropping 23 points. Robinson had one of his better games in a Warriors uniform thus far, scoring 18 while making two three-pointers. Marquese Chriss added 10 off the bench to go along with two blocks, one of which was a spectacular rejection of a Darius Bazley dunk attempt. Although his rookie shooting struggles continue, Jordan Poole still found ways to get involved, taking on a distributor role to dish out six assists.

On the whole, the greatest positive takeaway is that the Warriors, on paper, shouldn’t be particularly competitive right now. And yet they are. They are finding ways to stay in games, even if they’re not winning them.

But in spite of this, and in spite of the favorable draft position that losses could bring them, they still, understandably, want to win.

“We shouldn’t feel sorry for ourselves and say, ‘Well, we have all these injuries’ or ‘We’re playing two-way guys and going for the lottery’ and all this crap,” Steve Kerr said after the game. “We should win some games.”

With so many young players, the wins should come in due time. Right now, they’re developing and learning how to be competitive and play meaningful late-game basketball. It's a great experience for young players, and it should lead to winning down the road.

Imagine what they might be able to do with a fully healthy team.