What we learned as Warriors miss Butler in streak-snapping loss

What we learned as Warriors miss Butler in streak-snapping loss originally appeared on NBC Sports Bay Area

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The Warriors could have stolen the No. 6 seed in the Western Conference on Saturday in Philadelphia, but wound up having to shake their heads at one of their more flabbergasting losses in a long time, falling 126-119 to the 76ers at the Wells Fargo Center.

Paul George and Tyrese Maxey combined to score three points in the first half, yet the Warriors still trailed by 12 points. The 76ers’ top two scorers — with Joel Embiid out for the 2024-25 NBA season — finished with a combined 22 points, which was nothing compared to two role players.

Quentin Grimes enjoyed the game of his life, scoring 20 points in the first half and 24 in the second for 44 overall. Former Warriors guard Kelly Oubre dropped 15 in the first half and tallied 20 points in the end. That duo somehow was too much for the short-handed Warriors to overcome.

Jimmy Butler missed his first game since being traded to the Warriors because of back spasms, and his absence was massive. Steph Curry scored a team-high 29 points on 10-of-18 shooting, was 5 of 12 on 3-pointers and dished 13 assists for his seventh double-double of the season. His help was few and far between.

Curry was a plus-12 in 36 minutes. The Warriors in the 12 minutes he sat were a minus-19.

Golden State’s second-leading scorer was rookie Quinten Post, who followed his 18-point game in Orlando with 16 points in the starting lineup two nights later.

Here are three takeaways from the Warriors snapping their five-game win streak.

The Steph Show Goes On

There’s hot, and then there’s the temperature Curry is operating at right now. As a follow-up to his epic 56-point performance on Thursday, Curry came out of the gates on fire. Curry scored 12 points in the first quarter, playing 10 minutes, going 4 of 7 overall and 3 of 5 from 3-point range, also adding two rebounds, four assists and one steal. The Warriors were a plus-6 with him on the floor, and a minus-6 without him.

Curry then went to the bench with two minutes remaining in the second quarter, and the Warriors then were outscored 6-0 to end the frame. He remained on the bench until the 6:46 mark of the second, and by then the Warriors trailed by five points, meaning Golden State was a minus-11 in that stretch without Curry. At one point in the second quarter where the Warriors were outscored 35-27, the 76ers went on a 17-2 run.

After putting up 12 points in the first quarter, Curry scored seven in the second and eight in the third, bringing him to 27 entering the fourth quarter. But as the Warriors trailed the 76ers by six points to begin the fourth quarter, Curry remained on the bench for the first two minutes and Philadelphia pushed its lead to 11 points.

How much extra juice has Curry found? In the fourth quarter he threw down his first dunk in over six years, since Feb. 21, 2019.

Pre-Butler Warriors Return

Butler’s impact on the Warriors can’t be more obvious. They’re 7-1 in the eight games he has played since joining the team, completely changing the Warriors’ season. In their first game without Butler, the Warriors reverted back to their old ways.

Curry had 19 points in the first half. The rest of the starting five had 17. Nobody else was in double figures, with Post’s eight points being second behind Curry. Golden State’s lack of a real second scorer once again was obvious.

Where Butler was missed most was about more than only scoring points.

The Warriors looked disjointed from the start. Brandin Podziemski (minus-16) and Moses Moody (minus-10), two young players who have reaped the benefits of Butler’s arrival, struggled all game long.

The 76ers took nine more free throws than the Warriors, had one fewer turnover and one more steal than them. The amount of missed layups and shots around the rim by the Warriors felt like a number too high to count. Butler’s gravity as another scoring star on the court and his basketball IQ were sorely missed against the Sixers.

Ramifications Of Frustrating Loss

Everything was right there for the taking. The Warriors could have enjoyed their longest win streak of the season, and instead have to feel dumbfounded at one of the more troubling losses in quite some time.

The No. 3-seeded Memphis Grizzlies lost earlier in the day to the San Antonio Spurs. The No. 5-seeded Houston Rockets lost to the Sacramento Kings, despite Domantas Sabonis exiting right away with a hamstring injury. The No. 8-seeded Dallas Mavericks were blown out against the Milwaukee Bucks, too.

A Warriors win would have given them a two-game lead over the Mavs.

Winning all five games on the Warriors’ road trip no longer is a reality. Going 4-1 just got harder, too. The Warriors face the Charlotte Hornets next on Monday, but then go to Madison Square Garden for the second night of a back-to-back against the New York Knicks and then finish against the Brooklyn Nets on Thursday.

Entering the night, the 76ers had lost nine consecutive games. They came off a month in which they won one game and lost 10. This loss is going to sting, and the Warriors will have to recover in a hurry.

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