If all else fails for the Warriors, Gui Santos can save them.Well, at least that’s what happened in Detroit on Thursday, when all might’ve been lost if not for Santos substituting into the game for his first meaningful minutes this season and jolting the Warriors back to life. Santos grabbed loose balls, tipped away passes, made four 3-pointers, and just played harder and faster than everybody else on court.It was an astounding performance, especially against the backdrop of so much Warriors’ docility during their long recent slump. It tipped the game to the Warriors, who won 107-104 despite a struggling night from Stephen Curry, and it kept the Warriors above .500, at 19-18.

But there’s also a sober reality: the Warriors needed Santos, who has been to the G League twice this season and only had his contract for this season fully guaranteed a few days ago, to win this game. Which is maybe not a great indicator for future victories, starting Friday night in Indianapolis, unless Santos is gearing up for a Hall of Fame tear.

Granted, the Warriors on Thursday were without Jonathan Kuminga (probably out another few weeks with a sprained ankle), Andrew Wiggins (personal issue), Moses Moody (knee), Gary Payton II (calf), and Brandin Podziemski (abdominal muscle). They might be without all five guys again on Friday — plus possibly Curry on the back end of a back-to-back. But injuries are part of every season. And, other than Curry, it’s not like the Warriors were great when they had all or most of the other guys healthy this season.

The larger point is that this victory almost certainly didn’t change the trajectory of this season, or even of the last few weeks. Even with the Santos one-off, this game was just an expansion of this run-of-the-mill experience so far. The Warriors aren’t terrible. They won’t bottom out. But they’re not very good, either. They match up terribly with younger, more versatile teams. They can beat most of the confused teams. Their best players need more and more rest as they get older. And with Kuminga sidelined for at least a few more weeks, there really isn’t a way for the Warriors to get a ton better this season, unless some magical trade appears by the Feb. 6 trade deadline. The Warriors are right where they belong, in the middling muddle of the Western Conference, currently in ninth place, only 1.5 games behind sixth-place Lakers, but also just 2 games in front of 12th-place Phoenix. And the most interesting part of this season — watching Kuminga’s value go up and down every night via NBA dynamic pricing — is on ice for now and probably through the deadline.

So what’s at stake in the next few weeks, as the Warriors assess their situation and try not to fritter away another one of the final seasons of Curry’s prime? Let’s take a look…