Takeaways from Warriors' Loss to 76ers: Dubs Have Been Playing the Wrong Guys

VJ Edgecombe's last-second putback gave the Philadelphia 76ers (12-9) a 99-98 victory over the Golden State Warriors (11-12) at Xfinity Mobile Arena on Thursday.

The Warriors roared back from a 22-point halftime deficit to take a four-point lead, but the 76ers scored the last five, dealing Golden State a gut punch.

Draymond Green left the game in the second quarter with a foot injury. He didn't return. Stephen Curry and Jimmy Butler were not active, forcing the Warriors to play lineups they rarely do.

Tyrese Maxey led all scorers with 35 points.

Here are three takeaways from Thursday's wild game.

Warriors Have Been Playing the Wrong Guys

In minutes per game, Brandin Podziemski (28.3) and Jonathan Kuminga (26.3) are fourth and fifth on the team, respectively.

Thursday's game is a reflection of what's been trending for weeks.

They should see their roles reduced.

Pat Spencer had another great game (16 points, 4 assists, +17). Gui Santos (4 points, +15) didn't play in the first half, but you could feel his energy in his 12 second-half minutes.

More than anything, they bring passion and 100 percent effort every time they play.

Until Kuminga (20 minutes, minus-18) and Podz (20 minutes, minus-20) earn their minutes, they should play less so Spencer, Santos, Quinten Post and Will Richard can play more.

At 11-12, the Warriors don't have time to wait anymore. It's about going with the players that give them the best chance to win.

Melton Looks Ready for Big Role

Perhaps the most positive development from Thursday's game was De'Anthony Melton's performance.

The stat line didn't do him full justice. He had 14 points on 5-of-11 shooting in 21 minutes.

This was more about how he looked.

Late in the third quarter, he had a two-possession sequence in which he poked the ball away from Jared McCain on the first possession and stayed right with Tyrese Maxey on the second, forcing a tough fadeaway.

Melton's first bucket came off a cut into the key after which he powered up with a tough left-handed finish.

His third bucket was a heavily contested driving finish off the glass.

In the fourth, Melton had a full-court pass to Buddy Hield for a layup.

He forced a jump ball in the last minute and also forced Maxey to badly miss the potential game-winning shot before Edgecombe tipped it in.

When everyone is fully healthy and ramped up, Melton should play the most minutes on this team outside of the Big Three. At the moment, no other Golden State role player is even close to making the two-way impact he does.

Hield Starting to Come Alive

I've been tough on Buddy Hield in these takeaways articles, but at least for this game, he deserves a lot of praise.

Hield had 14 points (6-of-12 shooting, 2-of-7 from three), eight rebounds, two assists, two steals, one block and zero turnovers. It was his best all-around game of the season.

Hield has frequently been tasked with guarding the opposing team's best ball-handler, and though he has often struggled with said task, it's not his fault that he's been overexposed on the defensive end. The Warriors simply don't have much on-ball defense depth, so Hield has been thrown into the fire.

Whether that has impacted his three-point shooting (30 percent) this season is a fair question.

But his lack of three-point shooting has not deterred him from driving to the basket, which is the most underrated part of his game.

He had an outstanding drive and finish during Golden State's furious fourth-quarter rally. For a team that doesn't get many points in the paint, that skill is invaluable.

My only gripe with Hield's performance was on the inbounds pass with 10 seconds left, he had no business cutting in front of Melton, which led to a turnover. It was a game-altering mistake, so for some fans, I can see that being the only takeaway from his performance Thursday. But outside of that, he really was a huge plus.