SAN FRANCISCO _ Seated on the bench in a gold and blue, windowpane-patterned sport coat, Warriors guard Steph Curry shook his head back and forth. It was all he could do.
While Wizards guard Bradley Beal erupted for 22 points _ including five 3-pointers _ in the first quarter, Curry was relegated to the bench in a game he had hoped to play in. But, instead of celebrating Curry's return from a broken left hand, the Warriors lost to the Wizards 124-110 on Sunday at Chase Center.
Following an uplifting win in Phoenix, the Warriors (13-48) entered Sunday's game on the second night of a back-to-back set. Though they withstood Beal's initial scoring surge and showed some fight in the first half, a tired team unraveled in the end.
With 2:36 left in the second quarter, forward Marquese Chriss' dunk capped off an 11-2 run and erased a 12-point Wizards lead. However, the Wizards (22-37) answered with a 10-2 run of their own. Still, Golden State trailed by only six at halftime.
However, one night after committing only 10 turnovers against the Suns, the Warriors turned the ball over eight times in the third quarter alone _ and would commit 22 in the game _ as the Wizards outscored the Warriors 31-19 in the decisive period.
At the time of Curry's real-life "smh" in the opening minutes, Beal had as many points as the entire Warriors team. Fueling Curry's frustration could have been the fact that he had long targeted Sunday's game to play for the first time since suffering a broken bone in his left hand on Oct. 30.
But the Warriors decided against it, insisting he participate in another full scrimmage before taking the court. As the Warriors board a plane to Denver on Monday, Curry will head to Santa Cruz to practice with the team's G League affiliate.
Curry could return in time for Thursday's game against the Raptors, but his addition will do little to change the fate of this lottery-bound season. That would give him up to 20 games to exercise his nerve-damage hand, and provide valuable on-court time with his new teammates, including forward Andrew Wiggins, who finished with 27 points on 9-for-19 shooting, six rebounds and two assists.
Guard Mychal Mulder, who continued to impress on his 10-day contract, finished with 17 points on 6-for-10 shooting. Guard Jordan Poole, who returned from a one-game absence due to a right ankle sprain, added 17 points and seven assists.
For the Wizards, Beal finished with 34 points on 10-for-24 shooting and eight assists, while forward Davis Bertans went for 29 points on 9-for-14 shooting.
Though the Warriors look forward to getting Curry back, he will also be exposed to losing at a rate he wasn't used to during Golden State's recent dynasty. It's one thing to watch a loss from the sideline, it's another to contribute to it.
