Draymond blames himself for the Warriors’ turnover-heavy loss to the Clippers originally appeared on NBC Sports Bay Area
INGLEWOOD, Calif. – Sitting at the podium, Draymond Green looked at the box score of the 102-99 loss of warriors to the Los Angeles Clippers on Monday night at the Intuit Dome and signed two words: Six turnovers.
That’s how many times he handed the ball to the Clippers in the Warriors’ third loss of this young 2024-25 NBA season. Two of those losses came against the Clippers, who forced the Warriors’ offense into turnover milling both times these teams met.
The Warriors as a team made 19 turnovers, one less than the Clippers, but their many mistakes while taking care of the ball equaled 31 points for the opposition. Coach Steve Kerr used 11 players, and eight had at least one turnover. None more than Green’s six.
“I sucked tonight,” Green said.
When asked to clarify whether he meant the team or strictly himself, Green pointed the finger at one person alone.
“I sucked tonight,” he repeated. “Way too many turnovers. Too many missed bodies. Yeah, I just sucked tonight.”
Just 16 seconds into the game, Green’s errant pass out of bounds marked him down for his first turnover. Green had the ball on the left side back, and while being guarded by Derrick Jones Jr., he saw a wide open Trayce Jackson-Davis coming off a screen for an alley-oop opportunity. But Green’s pass was too high, and the Clippers scored their first points of the game on their next possession.
His second turnover didn’t come until there were 5.1 seconds left in the first half when Green was whistled for an offensive foul trying to set a screen for Steph Curry.
Although four of Green’s six turnovers occurred in the second half, he agreed with Kerr’s assessment that the game was lost in the first half when the Warriors had 13 turnovers – two more than his 11 assists – which turned into 22 points for the Scissors
“It just set a tone,” Green said. “You hold a team to 102 points and give up 31 points to turnovers … defense was really good, but you can’t defend those turnovers. Like I said, I was terrible, so that’s on me.”
Although the Warriors’ sloppy first half dug a hole too big to climb back out of, despite their sloppy efforts, each of Green’s four turnovers in the second half was more costly than the start of the game.
Down by eight points with eight minutes remaining in the third quarter, Green threw a pass right into the hands of Norm Powell, who then dribbled down the court and found Kris Dunn on his own for a three in the left corner. The Warriors got lucky because Dunn stepped out of bounds.
They weren’t so lucky with Green’s next three turnovers. First, midway through the third quarter in a six-point game, Green’s pass attempt for Curry was intercepted by Dunn. Green rushed back on defense but fouled Derrick Jones Jr., who hit both of his free throws.
The fourth quarter is when Green’s fifth and sixth turnovers stung the Warriors the most.
Only four minutes remained when he threw an alley-oop attempt for Andrew Wiggins that didn’t connect, instead landing in the hands of Ivica Zubac, then leading to an Amir Coffey dunk. Of all his turnovers, the backbreaker came at the 2:48 mark. Green tried to force a pass to Curry for a three, but Coffey tipped it over and Curry hit it out of bounds trying to save the bad pass. Just 18 seconds later, Powell’s 3-pointer put the Clippers up by 10.
Golden State’s affinity for being too careful with the ball cannot rest on the shoulders of one player. For a newcomer to the Warriors like Buddy HieldGreen taking responsibility speaks volumes.
“He’s a winner, man,” Hield told NBC Sports Bay Area. “That’s why we respect what he says and what he does. Even though we don’t think it’s on him, he put it on himself because I know he feels he can do better.
“Personally, I could have done better. We could all do better. But that’s the pressure he puts on himself, and I respect him for that.”
The three-loss Warriors have now tallied 40 turnovers in their two losses to the Clippers, which turned into 51 points for the victors. It’s a crucial game, and Green will take the blame for a loss the Warriors know could have been avoided with smarter choices from the start.
