On Sunday night, the Golden State Warriors took on the Minnesota Timberwolves in a Western Conference primetime showdown on ABC. What was supposed to be a brilliant matchup lost much of its luster due to the absence of Warriors point guard Stephen Curry, who missed the previous two games with an ankle injury.

Though, the Warriors still had Kevin Durant, a former MVP, and reigning Finals MVP. The defending champions ended up losing to the Timberwolves despite deceiving games from both Durant and Klay Thompson. This marks their second loss in a row without Curry — both in disappointing fashions.

Curry is set to return for the Warriors' upcoming game, but Durant believes that Curry's presence altered the Warriors' offense in a spectacular way. In fact, Durant stated to reporters after their loss that Curry is the system in Golden State.

This claim does have some truth in it with a relatively small sample size. Actually, the Warriors have looked lost without Curry in the lineup. Against the Timberwolves on Sunday, the Warriors' offense was stagnant in many possessions, forcing Durant and Thompson to throw up shots to run with Minnesota.

In fact, Durant scored 39 points on 31 shots, which is a far cry in terms of efficiency for him. Thompson had one of his worst games of the season, scoring 21 points while shooting 25 percent from deep. Durant essentially may be the Warriors' best player, but Curry is the team's most important player. The latter commands defenses to cover him above the halfcourt line, freeing up his teammates to take advantage of the weak spots in opposing defenses.

Lucky for Golden State, Curry will return for the Warriors' upcoming game against the Lakers on Wednesday. It will be interesting to see if he can whip the team back to shape.