SAN FRANCISCO — On the heels of their first loss of the season, the Warriors had the perfect opportunity for a get-right game when they hosted the Oklahoma City Thunder at Chase Center on Saturday night.
Not only was it a chance to wash the sour taste of a loss out of their mouth, but also beat the Thunder -- one of the worst teams in the league -- in a far more convincing way than they did earlier this week.
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Well, with Golden State's 103-82 win, they took full advantage.
Where the Warriors (5-1) played down to OKC's level on Tuesday, they put together one of their most complete performances Saturday.
The Warriors limited their turnovers (15) while maintaining high-level ball movement and saw scoring contributions up and down the bench.
Steph Curry led the way with 20 points, while Draymond Green, Andrew Wiggins and Jordan Poole all chipped in 14. Otto Porter Jr. scored 10 off the bench.
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Here are three takeaways from the fifth win of the season:
When Draymond looks to score...
If the Warriors have said it once, they've said it 1,000 times: They are a better team with Draymond Green scoring the basketball. He did that, and then some against the Thunder on Saturday.
Green came out of the gates with fire in his eyes, a different pep in his step and looking to score. He made a driving layup within the first minute of the game and went 1-of-2 from 3-point range in the first three minutes.
By the end of the first quarter alone, Green scored 11 points off of the layup, the three, a floater, a transition dunk, and a corner three.
As the night went on, Green's scoring cooled off, as he scored just three more points. But his offensive tenacity didn't. He shot the ball 6-for-8 from the field, including 1-for-2 from 3-point range and dished out eight assists. Meanwhile, on the other end of the floor, he grabbed 11 rebounds and recorded one block.
Different reason for Steph's scoreless fourth
Before the game, coach Steve Kerr said he'd bet money that Curry would score in the fourth quarter on Saturday. He ended up losing that bet, but for all the right reasons.
No, Curry didn't score in the fourth for the fourth straight game, but against OKC, he didn't have a chance to. He didn't play at all in the final frame. Kerr probably likes this more than seeing his star score a ton.
Kerr has made it a point to find Curry minutes to rest, and their 24-point lead heading into the fourth allowed the reigning NBA scoring champ to do so. Curry also sat midway through the first, allowing Chris Chiozza to get some early minutes.
A big reason Curry was able to sit out the fourth quarter -- and play a season-low 27 minutes -- was because of the production the Warriors got from everyone else. Other starters such as Green, Wiggins and Poole provided strong supplemental scoring, while the bench comfortably survived the non-Curry minutes.
Moving forward, the Warriors need to find this kind of production as they face more competitive teams.
The rookie file
For the first time this season, we got a glimpse of both Warriors' 2021 lottery picks Jonathan Kuminga and Moses Moody.
One day after playing his first game for the Santa Cruz Warriors, Moody got rotation minutes against Oklahoma City as Damion Lee sat out with a shoulder contusion.
Moody finished with five points on 2-of-6 shooting, including one 3-pointer, and three rebounds. His plus-12 net rating is a reflection of how comfortable he looked on the floor with the second unit and sometimes staggered with some starters.
In his NBA debut -- after missing the first five games with a strained right patella tendon -- Kuminga checked in halfway through the fourth quarter. The crowd erupted into cheers each time the No. 7 overall draft pick touched the ball.
Kuminga's first career NBA bucket was a 26-foot 3-pointer from the right side of the arc. That was his only stat of the night, but just getting him out on the floor was a step in the right direction.