Last Rating: Warriors lose to Thunder 104-97 in Oklahoma Metropolis

The Golden State Warriors misplaced to the reigning defending champion Oklahoma Metropolis Thunder tonight on the highway, 104-97. In addition they missed seven free throws, egads!

You possibly can sit with that math nevertheless you need. However right here’s what I refuse to let that quantity erase: a shorthanded Golden State workforce, with out Stephen Curry and Jimmy Butler, walked into the constructing that’s presently essentially the most harmful residence courtroom within the Western Convention and made the perfect workforce in basketball sweat for 48 minutes.

That counts for one thing.

Gui Santos dropped a career-high 22 factors and 11 rebounds on the perfect defensive roster within the convention. Draymond Inexperienced shot 6-of-10, hit 4 threes, and regarded like a person who has been right here earlier than as a result of he completely has. Brandin Podziemski ran the offense with 17 factors and 6 assists in opposition to one turnover, the sort of quiet competence that championship rosters are constructed round. The Warriors outrebounded the Thunder 47-42. They generated 28 assists. They even received the turnover battle -3 in opposition to OKC’s pesky protection. The Dubs got here again from double digits down within the third quarter and made it a real sport when no person exterior the locker room anticipated them to.

The missed free throws damage. Going 11-of-18 from the road in opposition to a Thunder workforce that went 23-of-24 from the charity stripe is the distinction between a loss and a second Dub Nation would have talked about for weeks. However I’ve watched this franchise lengthy sufficient to know the distinction between a workforce that’s damaged and a workforce that’s constructing towards one thing by way of the hearth. Tonight regarded just like the latter. The combat was actual. The competitiveness was actual. The youth on this roster absorbing a playoff-caliber setting in opposition to a 50-win workforce, with out their stars, and nonetheless discovering a strategy to make the fourth quarter attention-grabbing? That’s one thing to construct on.

Oklahoma Metropolis earned their fiftieth win. They’re professional contenders to go back-to-back and tonight confirmed it once more. However the Warriors made them work for each possession, and when Curry will get again, when this group remembers what full energy looks like, tonight might be a kind of video games they level to.