Golden State Warriors star Stephen Curry is not exactly what one would view as a bruiser. He can play physical and he can get down and dirty when it gets to it, but he prefers to play with finesse and flair. He has Draymond Green anyway to take care of the bruising aspect of the game. It's no coincidence that Curry has not been whistled for a flagrant foul for the entirety of his 17-year career to this point.

But as the old adage goes, there's always a first time for everything. On Tuesday night, with the Warriors facing the almighty Oklahoma City Thunder, Curry got called for the first flagrant foul of his career for impeding on Isaiah Joe's landing space on a three-point attempt towards the end of the first quarter.

Of course, Curry is not a dirty player, so his intention on this play wasn't to infringe on Joe's landing space. This was simply an unfortunate case of being at the wrong place at the right time, and the Warriors, as a result, hemorrhaged three points from the foul line on the flagrant call with the Thunder retaining possession.

This unfortunate flagrant foul call on Curry seemed to set the tone for the Warriors' night on the road against the reigning champion Thunder. They cut the lead to six with a Moses Moody triple to start the second period, but that only set off an OKC avalanche — with the Thunder taking a 19-point lead into the halftime break and the Dubs not being able to recover.

Article Continues Below

Warriors look to move on from crushing loss vs. Thunder

Warriors Head Coach Steve Kerr reacts to the final score of the game against the Sacramento Kings at Golden 1 Center with the Pacers logo in the background
Ed Szczepanski-Imagn Images

A matchup against the reigning champion Thunder is always going to be a good litmus test for any team with championship aspirations. Even without Jalen Williams, the Thunder have been the best team in the association, losing just one of their first 11 games. But then the Warriors got laughed out of Paycom Center on Tuesday night, as only a late surge from the Dubs prevented their final deficit from settling at 30-plus points.

However, there is not much rest for these weary Warriors. They will be facing another nascent Western Conference team in the San Antonio Spurs on Wednesday night on the second of a back-to-back.