What we learned as turnovers bite Warriors in loss to Clippers originally appeared on NBC Sports Bay Area
The Warriors have seen the Los Angeles Clippers twice this season and theoretically went into each game with an advantage.
Golden State had an extra day off between games and wasted it both times.
The Clippers, again playing the second night of a back-to-back set as they were on Oct. 27 in San Francisco, held off the rallying Warriors and handed them a 102-99 loss Monday night at the Intuit Dome in Inglewood.
The Warriors (10-3) did not score 100 points for the first time this season and slipped to second place in the Western Conference. They just have to accept losing twice to the Pacific Division rival Clippers in the first month.
Stephen Curry finished with a game-high 26 points but was unable to hit a contested shot in the final seconds. Andrew Wiggins scored 22 points.
Here are three takeaways from a frustrating night in Golden State’s first game in the Clippers’ new arena:
A message heard, not heeded
When these teams last met, on October 27th at Chase Center, LA won behind strong inside play and a lot of recklessness from the Warriors, who gave the Clippers 31 points off 19 turnovers.
Warriors coach Steve Kerr referenced this in his pregame press conference.
“We have to be a much more disciplined team tonight,” he told reporters in LA. ‘We need to play a cleaner game, take care of the ball, get it out of the net and go and generate more pace.”
An appropriate message, but it quickly perished once the ball went up. The Warriors committed five turnovers in the first five minutes and seven in the first quarter, giving the Clippers 11 charity points.
LA took a 27-22 lead into the second quarter and it only got worse for the Warriors. They were up to 13 turnovers before halftime, and LA turned the giveaways into 22 points.
The Warriors did a better job in the second half, but their early mistakes were too much to overcome.
Easy money remains unspent
The Warriors have done a lot of things well this season, which is why they’ve been at or near the top of the West all season. Their offensive and defensive metrics are impressive, but there is one aspect in which they fail.
They struggled to make free throws, and that was a problem again.
Golden State got to the line 19 times, but drained just nine shots, finishing at a season-low 47.4 percent. The Clippers, by contrast, were 16-of-18 (88.9 percent) from the line,
The Warriors entered the game ranked last in the NBA free throw percentage at 71.2 percent, with only Curry (94.3 percent) and Buddy Hield (85.7) shooting above 75 percent.
The problem is getting worse, as they were just 60-of-89 (67.4 percent) from the line over the previous four games.
Third quarter life is not enough
Playing from behind in the first half, the Warriors came out of the break tightening the defense and giving themselves a chance.
They won the quarter 27-19 by limiting the Clippers to 31.8 percent shooting from the field and scoring 11 points off four LA turnovers.
That was enough to erase a 15-point deficit and pull into a 72-72 tie with 1:43 left in the quarter, which ended badly when Hield fouled Amir Coffey on a 3-point shot attempt with 0.7 seconds left in the quarter.
Curry and Wiggins combined for 17 points in the quarter, while the Warriors also posted a 14-12 rebounding advantage. But after Coffey drained three free throws to end the quarter, they never caught up again.
