Kyle Terada-USA TODAY Sports
The Warriors, absent not just stars but role players, playing without Draymond Green for a third straight game and with just eight players, have every excuse in the world.
But choking away a 15-point third-quarter lead and 10-point advantage with 3:20 left leaves wounds in every team, young and old, excused or unconscionable.
The Warriors have had a physically painful start to the season, and it surely turned mental Monday, when they watched the Thunder rip off the game’s final 13 points, turning what felt like a feel-good victory into a stomach-turning loss, 100-97, at Chase Center in front of a sellout crowd of 18,064.
The Warriors found an especially heartbreaking way to lose for the 11th time in 12 games. The run began with Chris Paul’s (20 points) 3 with 3:01 left, before Dennis Schroder’s trey brought the Thunder to within four. The Warriors had appeared to stop OKC on the ensuing possession, but Willie Cauley-Stein was called for a push-off on Steven Adams, who made 1-of-2 at the line. Shai Gilgeous-Alexander then swiped an inbounds from Bowman and his layup made it 97-96.
Eric Paschall’s contested jumper at the other end didn’t hit rim, and Paul’s pullup with 37 seconds left gave the Thunder their first lead of the half. Alec Burks’ drive to the hoop just rimmed off, and the Warriors, in control for so long, were playing the fouling game, which ended, again, with them on the wrong side of the hyphen.
For so long it seemed so good, the young, upstart Warriors (3-15) putting four in double-figures, led by Glenn Robinson III and Bowman, who made up for an off-night from Alec Burks. The strangest top two in basketball combined for 49 points on 18-of-31 shooting.
With Paschall, who had picked up a third foul in the second, emerging in the third quarter and finishing with 13 points, the Warriors appeared safe, the forward giving Golden State their biggest lead of the game, 75-60, halfway through the third on an and-one.
The good times wouldn’t last, but they were fun for a while.
In a game that featured Paul and Steven Adams — and, hell, Paschall — the best two players on the floor for the first 24 minutes were somewhat stunning.
Robinson’s first-quarter prowess and Bowman’s second-quarter marksmanship carried the Warriors into a convincing first-half lead, combining for 34 points on 13-of-17 shooting in the half, the unlikeliest of duos powering what used to be basketball royalty.
Robinson, a flier on a one-year deal who’s building his case for a second season with Golden State, is making the most of every minute. He averaged 31.4 points entering the game — easily the most of his career, second place being 20.7 in 2016-17 — and has taken off. In his past four games, the 25-year-old had averaged 14 points per tilt.
Bowman’s emergence, though, was more out of obscurity than the NBA periphery. Sixty players were taken in the draft this year, and not one of them bore his name. The former Boston College point guard is proving he doesn’t just deserve to be in this league, he deserves playing time, too.
The Warriors shot 51 percent from the floor and 50 percent (4-of-8) from 3 in the first half, assisting 16 times on their 23 baskets. The biggest difference came from behind the arc, where the Thunder suffered, going 5-of-15 in the early going. And the Warriors were far more stingy with the ball, too, turning it over five times as compared with the Thunder’s 10.
The Thunder had controlled the game early, opening 4-for-4 from the floor for a 13-4 lead. The Warriors relied on Robinson, whose in-and-out game gave him 13 points in the first. Marquese Chriss put the finishing touches on a solid opening period, swatting a Chris Paul floater as the quarter was about to expire, with the Warriors entering the second up, 28-25.