The Golden State Warriors had to overcome a surprise absence from Klay Thompson en route to a 136-125 victory over the Oklahoma City Thunder, but it wasn't an easy endeavor. After all, head coach Steve Kerr didn't seem to possess the right answers to this conundrum at first when he decided to roll with a starting lineup of Steph Curry, Jordan Poole, Anthony Lamb, Jonathan Kuminga and Draymond Green.

That lineup didn't work out as well as Kerr had hoped, as the Thunder went off to a strong start, even scoring 79 points in the first half after building a rhythm in the first quarter. But it wasn't like Kerr was living in crazy land when he began the game with that starting unit.

In particular, the Warriors head coach believed that the trio of Lamb, Kuminga, and Green would help the Dubs go off to a strong start.

“They [the aforementioned trio] have been starting the top of the second quarters for us the last couple of weeks. They have a really good plus/minus, great success as a group. And we liked the combination of the size with JK and Lamb to guard their wings, along with the shooting of Jordan to make up for Klay's absence,” Kerr said following the game, per NBC Sports Bay Area.

“We thought it would be a good starting lineup. Didn't work out that way, but we adjusted from there.”

In the end, it was Donte DiVincenzo, Kevon Looney, Gary Payton II, and Moses Moody who helped the Warriors right the ship. The Dubs ended up outscoring the Thunder by 28 points in DiVincenzo's minutes, Payton nabbed a few crucial offensive boards including a huge putback dunk, and Moody scored 13 points on efficient shooting from the field.

This kind of play from the Warriors' bench pieces is the strength in numbers they have relied upon throughout the course of their dynastic run. What Steph Curry and the rest of the team will need from the supporting cast, however, is consistency. And with the postseason beckoning, there will be no better time for unheralded role players to step up for the defending champions.