OAKLAND, Calif. -- If you squinted hard enough for a second, you might have thought Steph Curry had made a Willis Reed-like return from the locker room. In the second quarter of the Warriors' second straight game without any of their four All-Stars, Quinn Cook looked to have absorbed some of the Curry magic to which we've grown so accustomed over the past few seasons. After putting on a brief dribbling display, weaving in and out of trouble, Cook raised up -- seemingly without even looking at the basket -- and knocked down a 17-footer.

As quickly as the Oracle crowd had deluded itself, however, it came crashing back down to reality just minutes later. After a missed shot, Cook dribbled down the court and launched a pull-up 3-pointer in transition -- a patented Curry momentum-swinger that snatches the souls of his opponents. And just like Curry, Cook's jumper hit nothing but net -- but in an entirely different way.

The airball deflated the crowd, as if they were pulling up to the office for their first day back at work after a Caribbean vacation. It's no knock on Cook, a two-way player who's averaged a remarkable 20.6 points and 5.2 assists over the last five games in fill-in duty -- he's just not Steph Curry.

Despite a valiant effort, the shorthanded Warriors lost the game on Tuesday to a hungry Indiana Pacers squad, 92-81, their second straight loss without Curry, Kevin Durant, Klay Thompson and Draymond Green in the lineup. 

But the defeats come with a silver lining -- something that can, and will, be invaluable to the Warriors during their hunt for a third championship in four seasons. In the two games without their stars, Golden State's young reserves have been forced to grow up quickly.

All season long, players like Cook, Patrick McCaw, Kevon Looney and Jordan Bell have always had an All-Star to turn to when things get rough. But in these two games they were forced to resolve their own problems, and it taught them lessons that only can be gleaned through experience.

"You can't replace game action as a young guy," Warriors coach Steve Kerr said after the game. "You feel it. You feel the pace, you feel the changes in the game. This was a good game for them -- for Patty, Jordan, Loon, Quinn -- because we're playing a team that's fighting for playoff seeding in the East. They really turned it up, and you could feel it. You have to be able to respond to that, and I thought we did, actually."

After Golden State built a nine-point halftime lead, Kerr noted that the Pacers picked up their defensive intensity in the third quarter. It made the Warriors have to work much harder on offense, and it more closely mimicked the type of defense these young players will see in the postseason. They faced a similar dynamic from the playoff-hunting Utah Jazz in a 110-91 loss on Sunday.

"It's just great to feel that kind of pressure, and that kind of defense and that kind of athleticism coming at you, because that's the NBA," Kerr said. "You've got to be prepared for that. There's no preparation besides being out there and taking your lumps."

And take their lumps, they did. The Warriors shot 14-for-39 in the second half against Indiana, and mustered only 11 fourth-quarter points as the Pacers tightened the clamps. But, to quote a phrase from "White Men Can't Jump," which turned 25 on Tuesday: Sometimes when you lose, you really win.

The experience gained by the Warriors' young players far outweighs the sting of the losses, especially as the team gears up for the return of its stars and the looming postseason.

"I can't wait to get these other guys back, but it's given me confidence to know that I can play with these guys on the court," Looney said after the game. "I know I can make plays, and I think everyone has more trust in each other. ... Everybody's starting to feel comfortable with each other, and having a lot of confidence to know that when these guys come back, we can go on the road and play exceptionally well."

The Warriors will receive their first boost on Thursday, when Durant is expected to return after missing six games with a rib injury, and Green will likely rejoin the lineup after his return from a pelvic injury was derailed by a bout of flu-like symptoms. The next chip to fall back into place will be Thompson, who has missed the last seven games with a broken thumb. Curry almost certainly won't be back for the beginning of the playoffs, but the hope is that he'll resemble his normal self by the second round at the latest.

The real question for the Warriors is whether this disjointed season -- one in which they've used 24 different starting lineups, compared to 14 last year -- will affect their playoff run. Some, including the bootleg t-shirt salesman on the walkway from the arena to the BART station, will tell you that the rest is actually good for Golden State's quartet of basketball genius, and that they'll come back refreshed, ready to deliver another postseason thumping.

The flipside is a team that thrives on chemistry being unable to generate that synergy because of the constant lineup shuffling. Only time will tell which one ends up coming to fruition, but there's no doubt that the young reserves are more equipped for the postseason due to their extended playing time.

Like any rookie, Bell has relied heavily on advice from teammates all season long -- particularly Green, who plays the same position and has a similar body type. But recently, Bell has tried to work through problems and issues on his own before going to his teammates -- a sign of confidence and maturity that's a byproduct of the experience he's gained this season.

"[Green's] kind of been letting me find it on my own right now," Bell said. "I try not to ask him as much, just so I can try to make mistakes, so I can learn from them myself."

Assuming good health, the Warriors' rotation will shrink in the playoffs, and there won't be as much time for the reserves that Kerr has made a conscious effort to keep engaged all season. They will play, though, and the handful of games without their stars could help give them the tools to excel in a five-minute stretch of a crucial postseason game -- the kind of thing that can turn a series.

"I know these games right here are gonna help me try to help the team out in the playoffs," Bell said. "So I'm taking everything serious right now."