Undermanned Warriors nearly shock Thunder in Porzingis’ return

The Warriors almost did it again. Almost.

After a severely undermanned Golden State squad eked out an unexpected win over the Rockets to begin its road trip, the Warriors nearly pulled off an even bigger upset against the best team in the Western Conference and presumed title favorites.

Golden State got Kristaps Porzingis back but still only suited up 10 players and still took the Thunder to the wire Saturday night in a 104-97 loss.

Shai Gilgous-Alexander sank a step-back 3 with 44 seconds left for the last of his game-high 27 points and forced a turnover on the other end of the floor to seal the game. 

The Warriors never held a lead but were as close as two points with less than a minute to play, trailing 99-97 before Gilgous-Alexander’s game-sealing 3. They missed their final six shots of the game.

Porzingis played 23 minutes and scored nine points in his first action since his Warriors debut on Feb. 19 — only the second game he has played dating back to the first week of January.

What it means

The Warriors earned a nice win against the Rockets. They returned to reality against the Thunder, who became the first team in the NBA to reach 50 wins.

Turning point

With the state of the Warriors’ roster, it should have been the moment they entered the building. 

But the score was tied at 77 more than halfway through the third quarter after Malevy Leons, one of three active two-way players, drained a 3-pointer with 4:14 left that capped a 19-4 run. 

The typically sound Thunder turned the ball over five times in the first six minutes of the third quarter. They coughed it up nine times the rest of the night.

The run came to an end in appropriate fashion for the Thunder — with Gilgous-Alexander getting to the foul line on consecutive possessions. The free-throw artist collected 14 of his points at the line. He baited Nate Williams, another two-wayer, both times.

The Warriors kept it close until the very end but never were able to pull ahead.

MVP: SGA

The reigning NBA MVP is probably on his way to a repeat win, so it would be silly to select anybody else after he led the box score in scoring and seemed to get a bucket — or free throws — at the moments the Thunder needed it most.

Draymond Green, tasked with guarding him, turned in one of his strongest offensive performances of the season with 16 points on four 3-pointers.

Gui Santos also scored a career-high 22 points and grabbed 11 rebounds in 38 minutes.

But the Warriors just didn’t have enough firepower to overcome a quintessential performance from Gilgous-Alexander, who is now one game away from Wilt Chamberlain’s NBA record after scoring 20 or more points for the 125th consecutive contest. 

Stat of the game: 15 offensive rebounds

The Warriors kept it close with the defending champions despite missing their two best players and a sizable chunk of their supporting cast. How?

By owning the offensive glass.

The Warriors cleaned up their misses for a 16-7 edge in second-chance points. They grabbed 15 offensive rebounds, compared to the Thunder’s seven.

Gary Payton II grabbed seven offensive boards by himself with a game-best 12 total.

The Thunder hadn’t converted a single second-chance basket until Andrew Wiggins tipped in a miss from Lu Dort with 4:30 left in the third quarter. It was Oklahoma City’s second offensive rebound of the possession, matching its total to that point in the game.

As for what prevented the Warriors from pulling off the upset?

Look to the foul line, and don’t complain about the whistle.

The Warriors missed key free throws down the stretch and shot 61.1% from the foul line. Oklahoma City only had a six-shot edge in attempts but converted 23 of its 24 free throws, while the Warriors missed seven of their 18 attempts.

Up next

Golden State finishes its three-game road trip Monday night with a date with the Jazz in Salt Lake City. The Warriors will play their third game in four days the following night, the beginning of a stretch of 10 in a 15-day span — just two in San Francisco.

Download The California Post App, follow us on social, and subscribe to our newsletters