Draymond Green's return to the Golden State side could not prevent the Warriors losing 107-86 to the Houston Rockets.
Green had been handed a one-game suspension following an altercation with team-mate Kevin Durant during Monday's defeat to the Los Angeles Clippers.
Warriors had returned to winning ways against the Atlanta Hawks as Green sat out, but the back-to-back NBA champions suffered a third defeat in their last five games on Thursday.
Dub.#RunAsOne 🚀 pic.twitter.com/bGuzUEf96s
— Houston Rockets (@HoustonRockets) November 16, 2018
Green did not contribute a point, while Durant scored 20 for the Warriors, who were again missing star Steph Curry.
James Harden scored 27 points for the Rockets as they recorded a third straight win, boosted by a fourth-quarter run of 21 unanswered points.
The @HoustonRockets use a 21-0 run to extend the lead in Q4! #Rockets @NBAonTNT pic.twitter.com/UsL8WE7QcP
— NBA (@NBA) November 16, 2018
The Denver Nuggets produced a superb display to thrash the Atlanta Hawks 138-93.
Juancho Hernangomez scored a season-high 25 points as seven players reached double figures.
Seven guys in double figures tonight:
Nikola: 12p/9r/7aPaul: 18p/9r/5aTrey: 14p/8r/4aJuancho: 25p/9rG: 18p/4aJamal: 14p/5aMalik: 15p#MileHighBasketball
— Denver Nuggets (@nuggets) November 16, 2018
The Nuggets raced to a 13-0 start were 75-57 up at half-time.
Paul Millsap and Gary Harris finished with 18 points each, and replacements Trey Lyles and Jamal Murray added 14 as Denver ended a four-game losing streak.
In the night's other game, the Clippers beat the San Antonio Spurs 116-111, with Lou Williams scoring nine points in the final four minutes to add to his top score of 23.