SAN FRANCISCO — Steph Curry curled around a screen in the deep corner and stepped on the sideline 48 seconds into Monday night’s game, a careless turnover on the Golden State Warriors’ first possession.

The next time down, after a second straight Knicks make, Jonathan Kuminga took a dribble past half court, thought he spotted an open Andrew Wiggins cutting and fired a lob pass that sailed several feet over Wiggins’ head and out of bounds.

A couple of minutes later, after another Knicks basket, Brandin Podziemski duplicated the blunder. He received the inbound, didn’t even wait until he reached half court and chucked a touchdown pass over Kuminga’s head as Kuminga pleaded unsuccessfully for a foul, the team’s fourth turnover in under five minutes.

Here are the two errant passes.

The defining stretch of the Warriors’ 119-112 home loss to the Knicks came in those first five minutes. The Knicks led 18-4 at the 6:37 mark. The starting lineup was outscored 15-4 before Steve Kerr made a substitution and 39-19 overall in 11 minutes, a minus-20 overall for a 5-man group that had been the Warriors’ best (plus-70 in 182 minutes) entering Monday.

Three starters, in particular, struggled. Wiggins, Draymond Green and Podziemski combined to go 3 of 18 shooting. Green committed four turnovers. Podziemski had his lightest impact game (zero points, two rebounds, two assists) in a long time. Wiggins was yanked from the closing lineup in the first half.

“It was almost the exact opposite of our game in New York a couple of weeks ago where I think we started out that game 14-0,” Steve Kerr said.

Kerr identified Tom Thibodeau’s choice to start Miles McBride for the injured OG Anunoby as an impactful move. McBride chased Curry around and also got scorching hot to open the game. He had 11 first-quarter points, 19 in the first half and 29 overall, while making six 3s. Jalen Brunson scored 34.

Isaiah Hartenstein might have been the key. He was a plus-26 in his 25 minutes. In that opening stretch, he made three floaters after the Warriors trapped Brunson, loosening up their coverage. Then he disrupted a bunch of action on the other end.

He blocked Kuminga at the rim and had these two instinctual steals, reading the flare screen action for Curry and snagging the pass out of the air. The first steal came in that 18-4 open and the final steal sealed it.

The Warriors made several mini-comebacks to slice the lead under 10. But they could never sustain it long enough to truly threaten. Trayce Jackson-Davis credited Thibodeau’s well-timed timeouts as stunting momentum. Kerr blamed the continual errors.

“I just didn’t think we were disciplined enough throughout the game to earn the win,” Kerr said. “We were biting on pump fakes on non-shooters, we were getting back-cut over and over again, which compromised our defense. They had 14 offensive boards. They just outplayed us. Simple as that.”

The loss drops the Warriors back below the Lakers, who blew out the Hawks in Los Angeles on Monday. Their faint hope of reaching the top side of the Play-In bracket faded further. They’re now 3.5 games behind the Mavericks and Suns and four games behind the Kings, not holding the tiebreaker against any of the three teams.

So it’s time to start looking below. The Warriors are now only three games up on the 11th-seeded Rockets. Houston has won five in a row and seven of eight. These are their next four opponents: Wizards, Jazz, Bulls  and Blazers.

The Warriors have the tiebreaker over the Rockets (so they’re essentially four games up) and also end the week with a fortunate schedule. They face the Grizzlies and Pacers to close this homestand. But the Warriors are 17-18 in Chase Center this season, joining the Jazz, Grizzlies and Spurs as the only West teams below .500 at home.

“A week or two ago, sixth seed was the motivation,” Curry said. “Now I could care less about where we’re at. The consistency of how we’re playing, that’s the most important thing. Because honestly who cares what seed you are? If you play like we did tonight — six, seven, eight, nine, 10 — whatever it is, doesn’t matter. You’re not getting very far.”

Steph Curry: “Honestly who cares what seed you are? If you play like we did tonight — six, seven, eight, nine, 10 — whatever it is, doesn’t matter. You’re not getting very far.” pic.twitter.com/abUYFMbU56

— Anthony Slater (@anthonyVslater) March 19, 2024

(Photo of Stephen Curry being guarded by Miles McBride: Ezra Shaw / Getty Images)