After collapsing in back-to-back games, blowing leads by 17 and 18 points, the Golden State Warriors were met with another daunting challenge as they welcomed the Western Conference’s No. 1 seed Oklahoma City Thunder to Chase Center. The task got even steeper as they would be without all-star guard Stephen Curry, who was sidelined with a knee injury.

With all that being said, if there were such things as moral victories, the Warriors had positive takeaways from this contest that are encouraging, but their problems remain apparent. Golden State erased what was once an early 19-point deficit to come back and take the lead in the fourth quarter.

The Warriors' inability to convert on the offensive end during the clutch minutes of the fourth quarter ultimately made the difference. Not having Curry's offensive stardom, scoring abilities, or the gravity he creates made things difficult for the Dubs down the stretch. On the other end, the Thunder leaned into their 26-year-old MVP candidate Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, who led all scorers with a game-high 35 points.

Golden State’s comeback was propelled by various factors, including the return of Jonathan Kuminga who led the Warriors in scoring with 19 points. However, his points did not come in the most efficient matter, going 8-21 from the field and just 3-10 from beyond the arc. The second most attempts from three in his career.

“I don’t care what position he’s at. We need him [Kuminga] being aggressive at all times…I think that the thing he needs to understand is, what we need him to be. That pressure he started putting on the rim? We need that all night,” Draymond Green said.

Two-way player Pat Spencer made a surprising impact on the game when the Warriors especially needed their depth that has been raved about all year to be on display without Curry. In his 14 minutes, he put up six points, four rebounds, and three assists. Not necessarily eye-catching by any means, but he led the Dubs with a plus-minus of nine.

Spencer’s 14 minutes on the floor trumps some rotation regulars in what continues to be an ongoing storyline of head coach Steve Kerr’s rotation. Spencer’s play definitely brought a spark the Warriors needed, but he finished with more minutes than Moses Moody, Gary Payton II, and Trayce Jackson-Davis. It is hard to create any true flow or rhythm for guys when minutes come at such a premium.

“That’s not a luxury I’ve had through my career so, I’ve kind of had to figure out how to play, whenever the opportunity is. I kind of just deal with whatever, I don’t necessarily look for outside things as in playing time, rotation,” Moses Moody said after Monday night’s loss to Brooklyn.

Jackson-Davis who has served as the Warriors starting center all season played the opening four minutes of Wednesday’s game and did not return to the floor at all.

Despite finishing with six players in double-figure, the Warriors fourth quarter execution was not enough against the class of the Western Conference, dropping their third straight game, falling to 12-6 on the year.

“I loved everything I saw in the first three quarters. The energy, the defense, the rotations,” Kerr said. “Tough loss, obviously three in a row but an 82-game season. We’re gonna be just fine we’ve got a really good team.”

It doesn’t get any easier going forward with Golden State going on the road to face an old friend in two-time Finals MVP Kevin Durant and Phonix Suns on Saturday, with that status Curry still up in the air. Followed by a trip to Denver, making the blown leads and losses to the Spurs and Nets that much more difficult to swallow.

(photo credit: Alonzo Adams-Imagn Images)