The Golden State Warriors dropped to 6-7 on the season after falling to the Oklahoma City Thunder 128-109 on Thursday night. The Warriors were unable to compensate for their absences with Steph Curry still out with a knee injury and Draymond Green serving a five-game ban.

Centers Kevon Looney and Dario ari performed the greatest job of taking up the slack among Warriors veterans. ari was actually inserted into the starting lineup for Looney by Dubs head coach Steve Kerr, hoping to give a boost to a team that relies so heavily on Curry. While many things went wrong for Golden State, that move appeared to have a good impact.

Looney and ari combined for 24 points on 10-for-19 shooting from the field in the absence of Golden State’s leading scorer. Despite playing fewer than 20 minutes, Looney completed with a double-double (13 points and 11 rebounds).

However, the other Warriors veterans, particularly Klay Thompson, left much to be desired. Thompson had just 5 points, 2 rebounds, and 3 assists in over 27 minutes of play. Other starters such as Chris Paul (15 points, 8 assists) and Andrew Wiggins (12 points, 6 rebounds) were adequate, but Golden State relies on them to perform in games like these.

Younger players like Jonathan Kuminga, Moses Moody, and Brandziemski continued to show promise offensively early in the season. In just under 27 minutes, Kuminga led the Warriors with 21 points on 8-for-13 shooting from the floor. Podziemski scored 13 points while grabbing 8 rebounds and dishing out 3 assists. In 23 minutes, Moody had 12 points and 4 rebounds.

However, the Warriors’ defense was atrocious. Throughout the game, Oklahoma City was able to beat the Warriors on the perimeter and then overhelped off shooters. While the Thunder undoubtedly benefited from some good fortune shooting from outside (finishing 19-for-32 from three as a team), they also received a high volume of open shots.

Late in the third quarter, the Dubs trimmed the Thunder’s advantage to two points, but Oklahoma City responded with another three-point barrage. The Thunder had a double-digit lead this time, which they would never surrender.

To make matters worse for the Warriors, Gary Payton II was forced to depart the game with an injury in the second quarter. Golden State is already losing two crucial players and is not in a position to absorb any further losses to the depth chart. They have already dropped the first four games of a six-game homestand and will try to win the rematch against the Thunder on Saturday. The first pitch is planned for 5:30 p.m. Pacific.