Takeaways from Warriors' Loss to Thunder: 2 Guards Make Case for Rotation Spot

The Thunder (21-1) responded to a furious Golden State rally with an 18-5 game-ending run to beat the Warriors (11-11) 124-112 on Tuesday at Chase Center.

Shai Gilgeous-Alexander had a game-high 38 points. Jalen Williams and Chet Holmgren added 22 and 21 points, respectively.

Jimmy Butler was ruled out for the second half with a knee injury. Surprisingly, that's when the Warriors made their push, scoring 44 points in the third quarter before eventually taking a four-point fourth-quarter lead.

Here are three takeaways from Tuesday's game.

Spencer Makes Case for Rotation Spot

Pat Spencer came into Tuesday having played 165 minutes this season, but many of those were in garbage time. He'd been exceeding expectations, but not by so much that he was forcing the Warriors' hands.

His performance against the Thunder changes the calculus.

Spencer had a career-high-tying 17 points on 8-of-14 shooting and six assists. Most importantly, he had zero turnovers against the best defense in the NBA.

Once the Warriors get healthy, they will have too many guards to play and not enough minutes to go around. Spencer has earned a consistent role, but whether the 29-year-old will get it is even more complicated by the next entry on this article.

Seth Also Makes Case for Rotation Spot

Seth Curry showcased exactly what he can provide the Warriors in his season debut.

He was efficient, going 6-of-7 from the floor with 14 points.

But just as importantly, he consistently made quick decisions with or without the ball, and it helped the whole offense flow.

In the third quarter, he caught a pass in the corner, attacked a closeout and then found Spencer open for a layup. On another possession, he came off a dribble handoff from Jonathan Kuminga, the defense gave him a lane, so he took it and dropped a floater off the glass.

It's smart, simple basketball, and the Warriors need more of that.

Meanwhile, Buddy Hield was 4-of-15 from the floor. It certainly wasn't Hield's worst game, as he had four assists and created more off the dribble than Seth is capable of.

Still, this feels like the beginning of Seth taking Hield's minutes, or at least making it so whoever has the hot hand between the two in the first half will take the other's minutes in the second half.

SGA and J-Dub's Masterpiece Shows How Much the Warriors Need Melton

Down the stretch, Jalen Williams and SGA isolated Hield's defense over and over to great results. They didn't even have to try to attack Gary Payton II's defense because they knew they could attack a weak link instead.

If the Warriors had Melton in for Hield down the stretch, there would have been so much more defensive resistance. With that said, this wasn't all on Hield.

Williams blew right by Moses Moody for a layup in the first quarter, and then he blew by Brandin Podziemski for a layup in the fourth quarter.

That's part of the reason Hield was being asked to defend one of the two Thunder stars down the stretch in the first place.

The bottom line is the Warriors need to defend the ball better, and Melton will help immensely in that department.