The Golden State Warriors almost claimed one of their most important wins of the season. With superstar Steph Curry sidelined, the Dubs welcomed the Western Conference’s top seed, the Oklahoma City Thunder, to town and were just a few breaks and bounces away from a spectacular victory.

Instead there was a 105:101 defeat and the first three-game losing streak this season. A moral victory? Perhaps. But an actual loss? Undoubtedly.

Now it’s time to rank the players who almost succeeded but ultimately failed. As always, grades are based on my expectations for each player, with a grade of “B” representing that player’s average performance.

Note: True Shooting Percentage (TS) is a scoring efficiency metric that takes three-pointers and free throws into account. Entering Wednesday’s games, the league average TS was 57.3%.

Draymond Green

32 minutes, 10 points, 13 rebounds, 7 assists, 1 steal, 2 blocks, 3 turnovers, 1 foul, 4-for-11 shooting, 2-for-8 three-pointers, 45.5% TS, +8

You could see the hunger in Draymond in this game. He desperately wanted to win the game, and that fighting spirit rubbed off on his teammates. More importantly, Green simply shined in this game. With Steve Kerr opting for a small starting lineup, Green was paired with six-foot center Isaiah Hartenstein. And he did an admirable job, patrolling the paint and grabbing 13 boards as the Warriors outrebounded OKC 57-49.

It was an outstanding defensive game with Green leading a strong offensive performance from the Dubs. Green was the leader behind the team, scoring 105 points on 54.4% shooting and 14 turnovers with a top-10 offense. Just look at this!

Dray also served very well as the quarterback of the offense and provided plenty of offense for his teammates in Curry’s absence.

Excellent work.

Grade: A
Post-game bonus: Led the team in rebounds and assists.

Jonathan Kuminga

28 minutes, 19 points, 4 rebounds, 2 assists, 2 steals, 2 turnovers, 3 fouls, 8-for-21 shooting, 3-for-10 three-pointers, 0-for-1 free throws, 44.3% TS , +2

The stats for Kuminga don’t look good. He didn’t collect too many rebounds or assists and his scoring efficiency makes me really admire him.

But my goodness, it really felt like he had a good game, didn’t it? JK missed his first four shots, but then turned it around. His aggressiveness was on fire all night long, and although his finishing was a little off, the relentless attacks on the basket transformed the Warriors’ offense. It was the kind of game that showed Kuminga’s potential to dominate, he just needs to get his shots a little more consistent.

It’s hard to judge this performance. I was impressed by a lot of what Kuminga did, but in the end the results were a bit poor… even if he felt like a star for most of the game and looked strong in defense.

Grade: B+
Post-game bonus: Led the team in points.

Lindy Waters III

24 minutes, 4 points, 6 rebounds, 1 assist, 1 steal, 1 block, 3 fouls, 1-for-7 shooting, 1-for-7 three-pointers, 1-for-2 free throws, 25.4% TS , -9

Waters has impressed and had a lot of luck for the Warriors this season. But it’s hard for a player to shine when he’s shooting just 1-for-7 from the field, and Waters was no exception.

I was impressed with Waters’ defense. But he spent most of the night looking for threes that didn’t come in. Like pretty much every player to wear a Warriors jersey over the last 16 years, Waters looks much better when Curry is on the floor.

Grade: C
Post-game bonus: The worst plus/minus on the team.

Andrew Wiggins

35 minutes, 16 points, 5 rebounds, 2 assists, 1 steal, 1 block, 1 foul, 4-for-17 shooting, 3-for-8 three-pointers, 5-for-7 free throws, 39.8% TS , -2

In many ways, Wiggins’ game was very similar to Kuminga’s. I was quite surprised when I looked at the score and saw how inefficient Wiggins’ play was, because it felt like his offensive aggression helped the Warriors’ offense all night long, despite the misses.

On the other hand, Wiggins’ performance was also the opposite of Kuminga’s: the offense started hot and then faded away. Wiggins scored the team’s first nine points and finished the first quarter with 11 points on 2-for-3 shooting and 5-for-5 on free throws. Over the next three quarters, he shot just 2 of 14 from the field and 0 of 2 on free throws for five points, capped by missing a desperate, game-winning layup in the final seconds of time , to collect the ball and go up strong.

Pretty good defense. And my goodness, the first quarter was still exciting. But things quickly got ugly.

Grade: C-

Brandin Podziemski

30 minutes, 12 points, 8 rebounds, 5 assists, 1 block, 2 turnovers, 4-for-10 shooting, 1-for-4 three-pointers, 3-for-3 free throws, 55.1% TS, -6

It’s been quite a struggle for Podziemski at times this year, and his protocols reflect that. But on Wednesday, he got a chance to start in Curry’s absence, and he got all the minutes that came with it.

Podz made the most of it and put in a strong, versatile performance. His offense showed, with just his third double-digit score in the last nine games and better efficiency than the stats would suggest, as some of his misses were desperation shots that ran out of time. He had a tough (in a good way) defensive game and attacked the glass all night.

A strong game.

Grade: A-

Kevon Looney

12 minutes, 3 points, 9 rebounds, 1 assist, 1 turnover, 2 fouls, 1-for-5 shooting, 1-for-2 free throws, 25.5% TS, -1

Looney’s season theme continues: supernatural recreation with offensive combat. Looney managed another nine boards in just 12 minutes, bringing his total to 238 minutes, 124 rebounds and 60 offensive rebounds this season. Ridiculous.

Also a strong interior defense and a few key plays, even if the offensive production is simply not there (although it’s fair to say that many of his missed shots (and offensive rebounds) were due to tip attempts).

Grade: B

Trayce Jackson Davis

4 minutes, 2 points, 1-on-2 shooting, 50.0% TS, -8

Kerr has apparently decided that TJD is not a good matchup against the Thunder with Chet Holmgren out. Jackson-Davis started the final match with OKC, but when Holmgren was injured midway through the first quarter, TJD left the game and never returned. And for this game he was only four minutes off the bench. It only lasted four minutes, but they definitely didn’t prove Kerr wrong.

Grade: C

Kyle Anderson

17 minutes, 10 points, 2 rebounds, 3 assists, 1 steal, 2 fouls, 4-for-8 shooting, 1-for-2 three-pointers, 1-for-2 free throws, 56.3% TS, -4

The Warriors have had their fair share of smart veterans over the years, and there’s one trait that runs through them all: Along with their consistent role-playing performances, they occasionally have a game where everything comes together and they shine.

This was the game for Anderson, who had by far his best performance since joining the Warriors. His defense was spectacular, his offense was both aggressive and effective, and he made brilliant passes all night long.

Excellent work.

Grade: A

Buddy Hield

23 minutes, 17 points, 3 rebounds, 1 steal, 2 turnovers, 6 fouls, 5-for-8 shooting, 5-for-8 three-pointers, 2-for-2 free throws, 95.7% TS, +6

While Waters was a cautionary tale about what can happen when you just look for threes and take them every chance you get, Hield was a reminder of what it looks like when things go right. It’s hard to attribute too much defeat to a player who scored 17 points on just nine possessions.

On the other hand, he could only stay on the pitch for 23 minutes before committing a foul, which also showed how much he struggled in defense. So it’s not easy to give a review.

Grade: B+

Gary Payton II

7 minutes, 2 points, 1 rebound, 1 block, 1v1 shooting, 100.0% TS, -8

Payton didn’t do anything bad in this game, but it wasn’t very impactful either. He did good things in his seven minutes, but the Warriors needed more offensive firepower and so didn’t turn to him often.

Grade: B-

Moses Moody

13 minutes, 0 points, 2 rebounds, 1 assist, 1 turnover, 2 fouls, 0-for-4 shooting, 0-for-3 three-pointers, 0.0% TS, 0 +/-

Not a very good game for Moody, who is in a bit of a slump and admits it can be difficult to find a rhythm as he doesn’t play a consistent role. His defense was pretty solid despite a few fouls, but his shot didn’t go down and he didn’t find other ways to influence the game. One to shake off.

Grade: C-

Pat Spencer

15 minutes, 6 points, 4 rebounds, 3 assists, 2 turnovers, 1 foul, 2-for-5 shooting, 2-for-2 free throws, 51.0% TS, +9

Green may have been the Warriors’ best player on Wednesday, but Spencer was the best story. It was only the second time in Spencer’s career that he played minutes without garbage time, the other time being in the final game of last season when the Warriors didn’t care whether they won or lost.

Spencer immediately changed the feel of the game, with energy, hustle and a few brilliant plays.

It may not have been a star turn, but it’s certainly a day Spencer will never forget. And it could bring him more opportunities down the road.

Grade: A+
Post-game bonus: Best plus/minus on the team.

DNP from Wednesday: Gui Santos
Inactive on Wednesday: Reece Beekman, Steph Curry, De’Anthony Melton, Quinten Post