What we learned as short-handed Warriors suffer blowout loss at home vs. Thunder originally appeared on NBC Sports Bay Area
SAN FRANCISCO – Starting the new year against the Oklahoma City Thunder already was a tall task. Then came a never-ending Warriors injury report.
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The Warriors were about as short-handed as it gets for their first game of 2026 against defending champions. Steph Curry, Jimmy Butler and Draymond Green all were ruled out early in the day, as well as De’Anthony Melton. Jonathan Kuminga was a late addition two hours before tipoff and wasn’t able to go because of lower back soreness.
Exactly one month to the date, the Warriors last played the Thunder and were without Curry but still fought for all four quarters in what wound up being a 12-point loss. The talent gap was far too wide for the Warriors to make it a competitive game one month later in a 37-point blowout loss, 131-94, Friday night at Chase Center.
Dub Nation was teased during the second quarter when the Warriors got within two points of the Thunder, 38-36, just for OKC to lock in and reel off a 19-0 run.
Missing so much firepower, the Warriors shot 35.6 percent from the field and 29.5 percent on threes. They were below 30 percent shooting for the majority of the game.
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Scoring was spread out to the Warriors having six players score in double figures, though nobody had more than the 13 points scored by Al Horford, Moses Moody and Will Richard.
Here are three takeaways from the Warriors falling to 18-17 with a loss to open 2026.
Makeshift Starting Five
Steve Kerr finally built some continuity with his starting lineup after picking names out of a hat for nearly the first two months of the season. The Warriors used the same starting lineup in each of the last seven games, going 5-2 in that span. Injuries, rest and an illness didn’t allow the streak to reach eight games.
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Only two players from the Warriors’ recent starting lineup were available to play: Moody and Quinten Post. They were joined by Brandin Podziemski, Richard and Gui Santos. The Warriors, going into their 35th game of the 2025-26 NBA season, had used 431 five-man lineups, and this group wasn’t one of them.
The Warriors were down by six when Kerr made his first substitution, and the starting five was a minus-5 together going into halftime. They were outscored 8-7 in the third quarter when Kerr first turned to his bench. Shooting could not match their spirit.
Overall, the starting five played 10 minutes and 41 seconds together and were outscored 22-15. With all five starters on the floor, the group went 3 of 13 on 2-pointers and 2 of 8 on 3-pointers.
Spotlight Goes To Podz
Without any of the Warriors’ Big Three of Curry, Butler and Green available, the featured face for them became Podziemski. The third-year pro often is under a microscope and heavily scrutinized from outside noise. Lately, he has let his game do all the talking.
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Podziemski in December averaged 12.7 points, 4.2 rebounds and 3.6 assists over 13 games while shooting 51.7 percent from the field, 44.4 percent from 3-point range and 81 percent at the free-throw line. He looked to be on his way to that kind of production in the first quarter, scoring four points, grabbing three rebounds and even blocking a shot.
Though his stat line was similar in the second quarter, Podziemski was starting to get caught in the trap of the Thunder’s defense and he missed all three of his 3-point attempts. If this were a game Podziemski wanted to prove he can be the go-to guy without star power around him, he came up far short of doing so.
His fourth 3-point attempt of the night went through the nets, but it cut the Warriors’ deficit to … 29 points. Podziemski watched the entire fourth quarter from the bench, ending his night with 12 points on 4-of-13 shooting and 1 of 4 on threes, with four rebounds and four assists.
The Rookie Was Ready
After closing the previous three games, Richard was back in the starting lineup for the first time since Dec. 7. Richard also started against the Thunder last month and only scored five points with little to show in 25 minutes. His third game and second start against the Thunder was a different story – at least at first it was.
Richard easily was the Warriors’ best player in the first half despite them trailing by 19 points. He scored 13 points through the first two quarters, which was one off the 14 total he scored in his first two games against the Thunder.
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The rookie right away showcased his two-way impact, especially with a crowd-pleasing steal and dunk in the second quarter. As the Warriors’ offense struggled for long stretches, Richard scored 10 of their 20 points in the second quarter.
Even when Richard was missing shots, his smarts still stood out as an active defender and constant cutter offensively. But his second half was one to forget. Richard, after a 13-point first half, was scoreless in the final two quarters on 0-of-5 shooting as a minus-16.
