Warriors veteran provides only silver lining from Thunder blowout

It wasn't pretty viewing for the Golden State Warriors in their return to Chase Center on Friday night, suffering a 131-94 loss to the reigning champion Oklahoma City Thunder.

There was little in the way of positives for the Warriors in a disappointing albeit expected defeat, but the continued strong return of veteran center Al Horford was at least one silver lining to take from a rather forgettable evening.

Al Horford was about the only silver lining for the Warriors on Friday

It almost felt pointless Horford being on the floor given the youthful nature of the Golden State lineup, having been without veteran stars Stephen Curry, Jimmy Butler and Draymond Green, along with another key rotation piece in De'Anthony Melton.

Nevertheless, Horford made the most of his nearly 16 minutes off the bench, dropping an equal team-high 13 points on 4-of-6 shooting from the floor and 3-of-5 from 3-point range. The 39-year-old also had six rebounds and two blocks, offering the only real defensive resistance to a Thunder squad that otherwise shot 52.2% from the floor and 42.1% from 3-point range.

After a slow start to his time with the franchise, Horford's performance since his return from a frustrating sciatic injury has been one of the bigger positives for Golden State over the past 10 days.

The 5x All-Star hit four first-quarter threes and had a season-high 14 points in his return against the Dallas Mavericks on Christmas Day, before going for seven points, seven rebounds and two blocks in less than 17 minutes against the Toronto Raptors. Horford also had eight points and two rebounds on Wednesday in Charlotte, with the 19-year veteran now shooting 50% from 3-point range since his return.

There wasn't much else to write home about for the Warriors who shot just 35.6% from the field and less than 30% from 3-point range. Rookie Will Richard was active early with all 13 of his points coming in the first-half, while Moses Moody had 13 on 6-of-12 shooting in 27 minutes.

Golden State were also without young forward Jonathan Kuminga, having mysteriously been a late scratch due to back soreness after being destined to play for only the second time in the last 11 games.

It's not hard to consider whether there's more to that story given Kuminga's imminent trade eligibility, but either way it wouldn't have made much difference considering the night ended in a 37-point defeat.

The Warriors will have a chance to quickly respond when they host the Utah Jazz on Saturday night, presumably with all three of Curry, Butler and Green back in the lineup.