Looking to continue its good run of recent play, the Oklahoma City Thunder traveled to the West Coast to face the Golden State Warriors. The Warriors had different plans, walking away with a 116-109 victory.

The story of the first half, like many other Thunder matchups, was in the hands of star guard Shai Gilgeous-Alexander. He posted 21 first-quarter points and finished with 31 at the end of the half.

OKC led 34-20 at the end of the first quarter thanks to a hot stretch from Gilgeous-Alexander where it seemed as if he couldn’t miss. He did most of the hard work on the offensive end, but OKC’s defense also stood its ground.

Limiting Golden State superstar Steph Curry was an emphasis for Oklahoma City, which worked to a certain extent. He scored four in the first half and 21 in the whole game, going 6-for-15 from the field and coming alive in the fourth quarter. Curry only made one field goal in the first half. It was Andrew Wiggins who would step up for Golden State, who scored 15 first-half points and finished with 27 by the end of the game.

From the time Gilgeous-Alexander was on the bench to the time he entered the game at the 5:27 mark of the second quarter, Golden State narrowed its deficit to six points. As soon as that happened, the Thunder star returned. He scored 10 points in that final five-minute stretch to give the Thunder a 58-48 lead.

The early stages of the third quarter did not go in favor of the Thunder. Despite getting offensive rebound after offensive rebound with good shot attempts sprinkled in those sequences, OKC couldn’t get the ball in the hoop. Guard Jalen Williams also secured his fourth foul of the game and guard Lu Dort his third.

That lid on the hoop was also applied to Gilgeous-Alexander. He missed his first four shot attempts as the Warriors ramped up their defensive intensity. Golden State quickly got the score to 63-64 with 8:03 to play in the third quarter. They would later take the lead in the quarter.

OKC’s three-point shooting performance against the Warriors, despite the final result, was not good enough. They finished 9-for-39 from the perimeter despite frequent good looks. Maybe the only major flaw in the Thunder offense this season was, in some ways, the detriment for OKC.

Gilgeous-Alexander quickly bounced back after not scoring in the first six minutes of the quarter. He scored 12 in the back half of it to increase his scoring total to 43, slowly inching towards his career high of 54. He finished with 52 on the night, coming up just two points shy.

Quality bench minutes from Brandin Podziemski, with continuous good play from Wiggins and Curry, left these two teams even at 84 points entering the fourth quarter.

The rebounding efforts from center Isaiah Hartenstein would prove very impactful down the stretch of this game. In total, he finished the night with 18 rebounds, six of which came on the offensive glass. Hartenstein didn’t have his best offensive performance, finishing with four points on 2-for-10 shooting. His presence was felt on the glass, however.

That forbidden lid on the rim slid back on for Oklahoma City with the fourth quarter waning away, especially from the perimeter. Despite open look after open look, shots just wouldn’t fall. Golden State took advantage of those misses, especially with Curry on the bench.

Golden State’s shooting down the stretch couldn’t have been better despite the tight OKC defense. Dennis Schroder, Podziemski and forward Kyle Anderson all hit clutch and contested mid-range buckets, all of which came at the end of the shot clock. This kept the Warrior lead around six points.

Late in the fourth quarter, the Warriors simply made more shots. The Thunder couldn’t get a stop and regardless of the coverage or time left on the shot clock, Golden State got its shots to fall. There simply wasn’t much Oklahoma City could do to stop them from falling, leading to its ninth loss of the season.

Oklahoma City’s next test is against the Sacramento Kings on the road at 7:00 p.m. CT on Saturday, Feb. 1.