Draymond Green blames himself for another turnover-heavy Warriors loss – NBC Sports Bay Area & California

INGLEWOOD, Calif. – As he sat at the podium, Draymond Green looked at the box score from the Warriors’ 102-99 loss to the Los Angeles Clippers on Monday night at the Intuit Dome and muttered two words under his breath: Six turnovers.

That’s how many times he passed the ball over the Clippers in the Warriors’ third loss of this young 2024-25 NBA season. Two of those losses have come against the Clippers, who have forced the Warriors’ offense into a turnover frenzy both times these teams have met.

The Warriors as a team committed 19 turnovers, one less than the Clippers, but their many mistakes in taking care of the ball equaled 31 points for the opponent. 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 to one person exclusively.

“I sucked tonight,” he repeated. “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 wing behind and, while guarded by Derrick Jones Jr., saw a wide open Trayce Jackson-Davis come 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 5.1 seconds remained 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 their 11 assists – which turned into 22 points for the Clippers.

“It just set a tone,” Green said. “You hold a team to 102 points and give up 31 points on turnovers… the 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 out of, despite their gritty effort, each of Green’s four second-half turnovers was more costly than the start of the game.

Down by eight points with eight minutes left 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 alone for a three in the left corner. The Warriors had their luck since Dunn stepped off the field.

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 to Curry was intercepted by Dunn. Green rushed back on defense but beat Derrick Jones Jr., who hit both of his free throws.

The fourth quarter is when Green’s fifth and sixth turnovers hit the Warriors the hardest.

With just four minutes remaining, he threw an alley-oop attempt to Andrew Wiggins that didn’t pass and instead landed in the hands of Ivica Zubac, which eventually led 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 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 penchant for being too carefree with the ball cannot rest on one player’s shoulders. For a newcomer to the Warriors like Buddy Hield, Green talks about taking responsibility.

“He’s a winner, man,” Hield told NBC Sports Bay Area. “That is 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 have done better. But that’s the kind of 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 victories. It’s a decision-making game, and Green will take the blame for a loss the Warriors know could have been avoided with smarter choices early on.

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