Unfortunately for the Warriors, the third time wasn’t the charm. Not on Saturday night, anyway.
Despite putting forth another valiant effort — this time, without Eric Paschall — the Warriors didn’t have enough to score a road win in Oklahoma City. They fell to Chris Paul and the Thunder by a final score of 114-108.
Shortly before tipoff, it was announced that Paschall would be absent from the contest due to a hip contusion, which allowed Alec Burks to enter the starting lineup. Burks scored 23 points for Golden State, while D’Angelo Russell followed up his 52-point Herculean effort on Friday night with a 30-point effort in Oklahoma City.
It wasn’t enough, though.
The Thunder got double-figure scoring from five players led by Danilo Gallinari’s 21 points. Chris Paul contributed 16 points and nine assists.
With the loss, the Warriors fall to 2-8 on the season. That leaves them a half-game behind the New York Knicks for the worst record in the league.
After going 0-3 on their trip, the club will return to San Francisco where they will host to the Utah Jazz on Monday night. The following two games will be against the Lakers in Los Angeles and at home versus the Celtics.
In other words, the road isn’t getting any easier. Each of the next three games qualifies as “tough.”
