SAN FRANCISCO – A half hour prior to Wednesday’s tip-off, it was announced Warriors rookie Quinten Post would make his first NBA start. Soon after, it was clear the game wasn’t going to be about the rookie.
The Warriors’ 116-109 win against the Oklahoma City Thunder was all about coach Steve Kerr’s trusted veterans. Those he has seen contribute to a championship on the biggest stage, and the same players whose names have been in plenty of rumors a week ahead of the NBA trade deadline.
Steph Curry surged in the second half for 17 points on 5-of-8 shooting, all makes and attempts from behind the 3-point line, after being bottled up for four points on 1-of-7 shooting and missing his two 3-point attempts in the first half. Draymond Green was subjected to bringing energy on the bench as he nurses a calf injury, and Klay Thompson no longer wears Warriors colors.
Remember the run Andrew Wiggins, Kevon Looney and Gary Payton II went on in the 2022 NBA playoffs? That’s what transpired against the Thunder on the Warriors’ home floor.
“These guys have been here so long. I trust them,” Kerr said of the three veterans above. “It’s just I think a continuity and a familiarity that I have with them and vice versa. When we get that kind of performance collectively from that number of players, that’s what it takes. It’s kind of what the league is about these days.
“It’s about depth. It doesn’t feel like anymore it’s about having three superstars. It’s more about how many really good players can you put out there, and can they collectively do it. That’s what happened tonight.”
Wiggins, Looney and Payton combined to score 60 points. They had the best plus/minus on the team, and collectively went 15 of 17 from the free-throw line.
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As Curry struggled to get free of Oklahoma City’s corralling defense in the first half, Wiggins’ offense was ever important. Wiggins the first half scored 15 points while the rest of the starting five tallied a total of eight points. His 27 points were a team high, and now seven of his 16 games scoring 20-plus points have come this month.
Wiggs barely beats the buzzer 🤑 pic.twitter.com/AtLwCsKlH3
— Warriors on NBCS (@NBCSWarriors) January 30, 2025
The more than 38 minutes Wiggins played were his second-most this season, and the Warriors needed every second he could be on the court.
“We need Wiggs to be in aggressive mode like he has been,” Payton said. “He’s been tremendous. Forty minutes? Yeah, keep him out there.”
Curry’s 21 points came in second to Wiggins. The third-leading scorer for the Warriors might have been the biggest surprise of the night.
Looney’s 18 points tied a career high, matching his total against the Atlanta Hawks on March 17, 2023. In his previous five games combined, Looney had scored 15 points. But against the Thunder, the ultra-reliable Looney was efficient around the rim and at the charity stripe, plus he also swatted away four shots – his most since April 11 of last season.
Loon puts the Dubs in front 💪 pic.twitter.com/RG11OvotP4
— Warriors on NBCS (@NBCSWarriors) January 30, 2025
Kerr debated between starting Post or Looney, and went with the rookie because of his ability to stretch the floor. For the second consecutive night, though, it was Looney who first was on the floor coming out of halftime.
“Loon was fantastic,” Kerr said. “Probably the key to the game. … We knew we had Loon in our back pocket, and he’s always ready to play.”
Nobody pleases a crowd quite like Curry. A distant second is the power of a poster dunk. When someone at Payton’s 6-foot-2 statue climbs the ladder, the roof feels like it’s about to collapse to the delight of Dub Nation.
As the clock was just about to go from minutes left in the game to seconds, Payton caught OKC’s defense by surprise. A driving Dennis Schröder dumped the ball off to a cutting Payton who found imaginary stairs in flight and yammed a signature slam on 7-footer Isaiah Hartenstein, the loudest two points of his season-high 15.
GP2 with the POSTER and the bench goes wild 😱 pic.twitter.com/bxdmQ5cC7y
— Warriors on NBCS (@NBCSWarriors) January 30, 2025
Game, set, match – the GP2 way.
“That was just a good exclamation point to cap off how we played tonight,” Payton said.
Curry isn’t going anywhere. Everybody else around him is a question mark, a shrug of the shoulders with their fate and future as a Warrior possibly days away from being known.
One game isn’t, and probably shouldn’t, alter how the front office goes about their business. Yet there’s no questioning the Warriors enjoyed their best win of the season by far on the backs of Curry saving his best for the second half, and a trio of trusted veterans gutting it out over the best in the West.
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