SAN FRANCISCO – The Warriors are choosing not to look at the procession of lurking beasts as they enter the most treacherous part of their 2024-25 NBA season. They fixate on the first person to greet them because they know it’s just as bad as anything they’ll see.

The only team in the Western Conference with a better record than Golden State at 12-5 comes to Chase Center on Wednesday. With a record of 13-4, the Oklahoma City Thunder are well on their way to asserting themselves as the No. 1 seed in the West.

And here are the Warriors, who missed the NBA playoffs last season, trying to not only get back to the postseason but also prove that they belong there and are good enough to get deep.

But first, the immediate. The Warriors need to get off the floor. Losses to non-contenders San Antonio Spurs and Brooklyn Nets in the last five days have them stepping up, regaining their balance and seeing how good they can be. But they must know that if the Spurs and Nets can exploit them, the Thunder and the other monsters that follow them can bury them.

“They have a great team,” center Trayce Jackson-Davis said of the Thunder. “They’re No. 1 and we’re No. 2. I’m pretty sure it’s going to rock (tonight). I can barely wait for it.”

Golden State dropped the Thunder 17 days ago and shined with a 127-116 win in Oklahoma City. Still, this game offered a glimpse of the Warriors at their worst. They took a 28-point lead in the fourth quarter and had to survive a late surge – OKC got within six points with 4:46 left – to emerge victorious.

The Warriors got away that night, but their tendency to treat big leads with indifference caused them to lose to the Spurs and Nets. It’s a dangerous game even against mediocre teams, which is why Golden State spent Tuesday in a lab undergoing some serious self-evaluation.

“Those are games we should finish,” Kerr said. “And of course we have a huge schedule ahead of us.”

What makes the Thunder particularly intimidating is their elite defense, their collection of two-way wings led by Luguentz Dort and Jalen Williams, and the casually spectacular All-NBA point guard Shai Gilgeous-Alexander.

“We can’t foul him,” Kerr said of Gilgeous-Alexander. “That’s the most important thing when you play them. If he gets to the line 12 times, which is six possessions, you take the ball out of the net and play against a solid defense. They are the No. 1 defense in the league. … But the fouls are the killer. He’s going to hit hard. But you can’t give him the easy things in transition, and you can’t give him the free throws.”

Gilgeous-Alexander is fifth in the NBA in scoring (29.2 points per game), ninth in steals (1.7) and 15th in assists (6.5 per game). He is second among guards in field goal percentage (50.9) and third among guards in blocks (1.1). His 8.0 free throw attempts per game ranks fifth. Gilgeous-Alexander beat the Kings on Monday with 37 points and 11 assists in a 130-109 loss.

The most impressive thing about the Thunder is their depth. Defenders and shooters come in waves. Golden State’s win earlier this season was in large part the result of OKC center Chet Holmgren’s hip injury in the first quarter. The Warriors outscored the much smaller Thunder 95-63 over the next two quarters.

Ten days after Holmgren’s loss, big backup Isaiah Hartenstein made his Thunder debut. He’s a few inches shorter than the 7-foot-tall Holmgren, but makes up for it with about 40 pounds of muscle. He averaged 15 points and 12 rebounds in his first two games.

Hartenstein poses different problems than Holmgren, but he’s no less of a challenge to Golden State’s top trio of Draymond Green, Kevon Looney and Jackson-Davis.

“When he played against Isaiah last year, he’s a big rebounder who plays in the pocket with his quick finishes,” Jackson-Davis said. “An underrated skill in his game is his passing. We’ll just let him play 1v1. Me and Loon, Dray. And then we want to suffocate the shooters and make sure we cut off passes.”

The Warriors addressed the issues that had plagued them in the last two games. They believed they had found enough solutions to be part of the team that was one of the most surprising teams in the league in the first month of the season.

Golden State’s schedule is entering the brutal phase. There’s no better place to gauge short-term progress than by first facing the best in the conference.

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