Saturday’s double-technical crunch-time collapse didn’t just come from Golden State’s veteran leader Draymond Green – it came from the only player on the Warriors’ roster that has logged minutes in multiple seasons at the center spot.

Centers Kevon Looney and James Wiseman have one combined appearance in the month of February, with the former nursing a left ankle sprain and the latter missing time with a wrist injury.

The extended absences are on top of losing reserve big man Marquese Chriss for the season to a broken right leg and having second-year center Alen Smailagić play for the Santa Cruz Warriors in the G League Bubble.

And with Looney and Wiseman both potentially returning Tuesday in New York against the Knicks, it seems suitable to analyze Golden State’s success after a virtually center-less month.

Pitting the Warriors’ 16 games in January, when both Wiseman and Looney played in every contest, against the team’s 11 thus far in February could paint the most accurate picture, especially as it excludes Golden State’s discombobulated first four games of the season.

Offensively, the Warriors improved in almost every metric without the big men. Of course, on a team with a litany of players that haven’t played together, it could be a natural progression of the roster, and doesn’t mean Looney and Wiseman make the team worse.

Nonetheless, Golden State has averaged 117.9 ppg in February to 112.8 ppg in January, also shooting 1.7% better from the field and 3.4% better from distance. The relationship between the improvement and the centers’ absences could be due to floor spacing or Stephen Curry starting to heat up, but likely the two are related.

Without Wiseman and Looney, Draymond Green has been able to play center, and his presence improves everyone around him, especially Curry, with the ability to have the center push the ball up the court and dish out assists being invaluable.

Green had double-digit assists in six of seven games from February 4 to February 15, capping it off with a 16-assist outburst against the Cavaliers, tying his career-high. Unsurprisingly, the Warriors’ assists per game have jumped from 27.8 in January to 29.9 in February, with their turnovers dropping slightly.

Rebounding has fallen from 44.5 per contest in January to 42.9 in February, but those numbers don’t mean much without context. Golden State’s opponents are +4.2 in rebounding this month, a more than 30% increase from January, while opponents have averaged 1.1 fewer offensive rebounds this month than in the last.

In the absence of their inside presences, the much-improved Warrior defense has dipped, but not significantly, with opponents averaging 1.4 more points per game and shooting just .9% better from the field.

It is tough, especially in the context of a shortened season with a rookie like Wiseman playing a prominent role and a core still meshing, to take that much away from a slew of numbers.

But after a 5-6 start to the year’s shortest month following a 9-7 January, and back-to-back loses of winnable games – the second without Curry – Golden State needs a shot in the arm, which a little post presence, rim protection and rebounding at Madison Square Garden might provide.