The Golden State Warriors almost pulled off one of their signature wins of the season. With superstar Steph Curry sidelined, the Dubs welcomed the Western Conference’s top seed, the Oklahoma City Thunder, to town and came a few leaps and bounds away from a spectacular victory.

Instead, it was a 105-101 loss and their first three-game losing streak of the season. A moral victory? Maybe. But an actual loss? Undoubtedly.

Now it’s time to assess the players who almost made it happen, but ultimately failed. As always, the grades are based on my expectations of each player, with a “B” grade representing that player’s average performance.

Note: True-shooting percentage (TS) is a scoring efficiency measure that takes into account threes and free throws. At the start of Wednesday’s games, the league average TS was 57.3%.

Draymond Green

32 minutes, 10 points, 13 rebounds, 7 assists, 1 steal, 2 blocks, 3 turnovers, 1 foul, 4-for-11 shooting, 2-for-8 threes, 45.5% TS, +8

You could see the hunger in Draymond in this game. He really wanted to win the game, and that competitive fire rubbed off on his teammates. More importantly, Green simply shined in this game. Because Steve Kerr opted for a small starting lineup, Green was paired with the more than two-meter-tall Isaiah Hartenstein. And he did an admirable job, patrolling the paint and snagging thirteen boards as the Warriors outrebounded OKC 57-49.

It was a standout defensive game, with Green leading a strong attacking performance from the Dubs. Green led the team with a top-10 offense scoring 105 points on 54.4% true-shooting, with 14 turnovers. Look at this!

Dray also quarterbacked the offense very well, creating plenty of offense for his teammates in Curry’s absence.

Excellent work.

Grade: A
Post-game bonus: Led the team in rebounds and assists.

Jonathan Kuminga

28 minutes, 19 points, 4 rebounds, 2 assists, 2 steals, 2 turnovers, 3 fouls, 8-for-21 shooting, 3-for-10 threes, 0-for-1 free throws, 44.3% TS, + 2

The stats don’t look great for Kuminga. He didn’t collect too many rebounds or assists, and his scoring efficiency leaves me with a lot to admire.

But god, it felt like he was having a good game, didn’t it? JK missed his first four shots, but then turned things on. His aggression was a strength all night, and while his finishing was a bit off, the relentless attacks to the basket changed the Warriors’ offense. It was the kind of game that showed Kuminga’s potential to dominate, he just needs to get the shots falling a little more consistently.

It’s hard to judge that performance. I was impressed with so much of what Kuminga did, but in the end the results were a bit disappointing… even though he felt like a star for much of the game and looked strong in defense.

Grade: B+
Post-game bonus: Led the team in points.

Lindy Waters III

24 minutes, 4 points, 6 rebounds, 1 assist, 1 steal, 1 block, 3 fouls, 1-of-7 shooting, 1-of-7 threes, 1-of-2 free throws, 25.4% TS, – 9

Waters has impressed for the Warriors this season, and for good measure. But it’s hard for any player to shine when he’s shooting just 1-for-7 from the field, and Waters was no exception.

I was impressed with Waters’ defense. But he spent most of the night looking for threes that didn’t go in. Like virtually every player to wear a Warriors jersey over the past 16 years, Waters looks a lot better when Curry is on the floor.

Grade: C
Post-game bonus: Worst plus/minus of the team.

Andreas Wiggins

35 minutes, 16 points, 5 rebounds, 2 assists, 1 steal, 1 block, 1 foul, 4-for-17 shooting, 3-for-8 threes, 5-for-7 free throws, 39.8% TS, – 2

In many ways, Wiggins’ game was a lot like Kuminga’s. I was quite surprised when I looked at the box score and saw how inefficient Wiggins’ play was, as it felt like his offensive aggression helped the Warriors offense all night despite the missed shots.

On the other hand, Wiggins’ performance was also the opposite of Kuminga’s: the attack started hot and then disappeared. Wiggins scored the team’s first nine points and finished the first quarter with 11 points on 2-for-3 shooting and 5-for-5 on free throws. Over the next three quarters, he shot just 2-for-14 from the field and 0-for-2 on free throws for five points, capped off by missing a desperate draw in the final seconds when he had time to get the ball to gather and go up strong.

Pretty good defense. And boy, that first quarter was still exciting. But things got ugly quickly.

Grade: C-

Brandin Podziemski

30 minutes, 12 points, 8 rebounds, 5 assists, 1 block, 2 turnovers, 4-for-10 shooting, 1-for-4 threes, 3-for-3 free throws, 55.1% TS, -6

Things have been a bit of a struggle for Podziemski at times this year, and his minutes reflect that. But on Wednesday, he got the chance to start in Curry’s absence and got all the minutes that come with it.

Podz made the most of it, putting on a strong, well-rounded show. His offense showed up, with just his third double-digit turnover in the last nine games, and better efficiency than the stats suggest, as a few of his misses came down to desperation runs off the clock. He had a tough (in a good way) defensive game and attacked the glass all night.

A strong game.

Quality: A-

Kevon Looney

12 minutes, 3 points, 9 rebounds, 1 assist, 1 turnover, 2 fouls, 1-for-5 shooting, 1-for-2 free throws, 25.5% TS, -1

Looney’s season theme continues: otherworldly recovery with offensive combat. Looney grabbed nine more boards in just 12 minutes, bringing his season total to 238 minutes, totaling 124 rebounds and 60 offensive rebounds. Ridiculous.

Also strong interior defense and some clutch plays, even if the offensive production just isn’t there (though to be fair, many of his missed shots (and offensive rebounds) come from tipped attempts).

Grade: B

Trayce Jackson Davis

4 minutes, 2 points, 1-on-2 shooting, 50.0% TS, -8

Kerr has clearly decided that TJD is not a good fit against the Thunder with Chet Holmgren out. Jackson-Davis started the final game against OKC, but when Holmgren was injured midway through the first quarter, TJD left and never returned. And for this match he only got four minutes off the bench. It only lasted four minutes, but they definitely didn’t prove Kerr wrong.

Grade: C

Kyle Anderson

17 minutes, 10 points, 2 rebounds, 3 assists, 1 steal, 2 fouls, 4-for-8 shooting, 1-for-2 threes, 1-for-2 free throws, 56.3% TS, -4

The Warriors have had their share of crafty veterans over the years, and there’s one quality that runs through them all: Between their steady role-player performances, they’ll occasionally have a game where everything comes together and they shine.

This was that game for Anderson, who had by far his best performance since joining the Warriors. His defense was spectacular, his offense was both aggressive and effective, and he made brilliant passes all night long.

Excellent work.

Grade: A

Friend Loved

23 minutes, 17 points, 3 rebounds, 1 steal, 2 turnovers, 6 fouls, 5-for-8 shooting, 5-for-8 threes, 2-for-2 free throws, 95.7% TS, +6

While Waters was a cautionary tale about what can happen when you only look for threes and take them every chance you get, Hield was a reminder of what it looks like when things go right. It’s hard to hand too big a loss to a player who scored 17 points on just nine shooting possessions.

On the other hand, he could only stay on the field for 23 minutes before making a mistake, which also showed how much he struggled in defense. So not easy to judge.

Grade: B+

Gary Payton II

7 minutes, 2 points, 1 rebound, 1 block, 1-on-1 shooting, 100.0% TS, -8

Payton didn’t do anything bad in this game, but it didn’t have much of an impact either. He did good things in his seven minutes, but the Warriors needed more offensive firepower so didn’t turn to him often.

Grade: B-

Moses Moody

13 minutes, 0 points, 2 rebounds, 1 assist, 1 turnover, 2 fouls, 0-for-4 shooting, 0-for-3 threes, 0.0% TS, 0 +/-

Not a very good game for Moody, who is in a bit of a slump and admits it may be difficult to find a rhythm with his lack of a consistent role. His defense was pretty solid, albeit with a few fouls, but his shot wasn’t falling and he didn’t find other ways to impact the game. One to shake off.

Grade: C-

Pat Spencer

15 minutes, 6 points, 4 rebounds, 3 assists, 2 turnovers, 1 foul, 2-for-5 shooting, 2-for-2 free throws, 51.0% TS, +9

Green may have been the best player for the Warriors on Wednesday, but Spencer was the best story. It was only the second time in Spencer’s career that he played non-garbage minutes, with the other time coming in the final game of last season when the Warriors didn’t care if they won or lost.

Spencer immediately changed the feel of the game, with energy, hustle and some brilliant plays.

It may not have been a top performance, but it is certainly a day Spencer will never forget. And it might just bring him even more opportunities.

Grade: A+
Post-game bonus: Best plus/minus of the team.

Wednesday’s DNP: Gui Santos
Wednesday’s inactives: Reece Beekman, Steph Curry, De’Anthony Melton, Quinten Post