SAN FRANCISCO – For much of the first half Wednesday night at Chase Center, the distance between the first- and second-place teams in the NBA’s Western Conference was so great you couldn’t see each other with the naked eye.

The second-ranked Warriors, deeply compromised without superstar point guard Stephen Curry, spent 20 minutes testing their physical limits but failed to find answers to conference-leading Oklahoma City’s problems.

It wasn’t until the final four minutes of the half that the Warriors found their anger. They closed the half on a 12-5 run, and the momentum continued into the third quarter as they outscored the Thunder 20-12 in the first six minutes. They won the quarter by 11, which reinvigorated the sold-out crowd (18,064) and restored belief in themselves.

Defense and some high-speed play from the second unit to turn a game that wasn’t into one that was – until Golden State’s offensive shortcomings were exposed late and were the culprit in a loss of 105-101 that fits in with the never welcome ‘morale’. victory” file.

“We were terrible in the first quarter,” coach Steve Kerr said. “But I loved everything I saw over the last three quarters. The energy, the defense, the rotations. There were guys flying around with a lot of good individual contributions. That’s our team. That is who we are.”

After trailing by as many as 19, the Warriors rode waves created by Kyle Anderson’s Slow-Mo Euros, Pat Spencer’s grit, Draymond Green’s blocks, Brandin Podziemski’s strumming, Jonathan Kuminga’s bursts and Buddy Hield.

It was Golden State’s defense that kept the Thunder from retreating. With OKC shooting 51.1 percent in the first half but being limited to 39.5 percent in the second half, there were plenty of open doors, alleys and avenues that the Warriors, two or three buckets down the stretch, had cruised to a surprise victory can jog.

But commitment and good intentions are no match for a scoring drought that lasts more than five minutes. The Warriors’ comeback hopes raged as an Anderson layup gave them a 96-93 lead with 5:45 remaining. Hope flared when they missed their next 14 shots.

“I didn’t think we made great decisions in the last five minutes,” Kerr said. “It’s pick-and-roll time late in the game, and with Steph out, things get a little tougher for our team.”

The Warriors missed 27 of 46 shots (41.3 percent) in the paint. They shot 7 of 28 in the fourth quarter, including 4 of 15 in the paint. For a team so reliant on its depth — which on paper is a tangible asset — the Warriors looked remarkably unimpressive without Curry available to expand the offensive options.

Andrew Wiggins and Kuminga tried to fill the scoring gap late in the game, but went a combined 1 of 8 in the fourth quarter. Only Anderson, with eight points on 3-of-4 shooting, was able to mount an effective offense feed.

The result was a succession of empty possessions, with Green pointing the finger at himself as the offense stalled. That’s brave, but not entirely accurate.

“I just need to get settled and get started on something,” Green said. “Get into a few sets. We were a little spread out, and that’s just me.

“If the game gets to that point, someone has to slow the game down and get us into a set. I’m the veteran out there. I’m the one with the most experience out there. So I have to get my head out of my ass, get the ball and get us into a set. Something that would be beneficial for all of us.”

“Everyone wanted it. JK got to the hole; he wanted it. (Wiggins) got into the paint a few times; he wanted it. (Podziemski) did it too. But our spacing was off, allowing them to collapse into the paint. And we don’t have the right kickouts because our spacing was wrong because we didn’t start anything. They were just guys making plays on their own.”

The Thunder (14-4) left town still in first place, while the Warriors (12-6) entered the night with their third straight loss and tumbled to third place, one game behind the second-place Houston Rockets.

Curry, who had pain in both knees, watched from the bench. Kerr is optimistic about returning Saturday to face the Suns in Phoenix. But on this night, the absence of the NBA’s reigning Clutch Player of the Year was too much for Golden State’s offense.

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