The Golden State Warriors still need to beat the Portland Trail Blazers in the season finale to clinch a playoff berth. Even if they somehow fall to the league’s most brazenly tanking team, though, relegated to the play-in tournament, Steve Kerr knows the defending champions must take better care of the ball come the postseason.
The Dubs committed a whopping 24 turnovers in Friday’s blowout road win over the Sacramento Kings, only surviving that rash of miscues because Mike Brown’s team sat its core players. If DeAaron Fox, Domantas Sabonis and company had played at Golden One Center, chances are the Warriors’ turnover woes would’ve cost them a crucial victory.
After the game, Steve Kerr was asked what factor drove Golden State to cough up its second-most turnovers in a game this season, an explanation that quickly turned into a stern warning.
“Carelessness was the main cause. Sacramento played hard, they got into the ball, they forced a couple turnovers,” he said. “But you saw some of the careless passing that we’re not gonna be able to get away with in the playoffs. We’ve gotta win one more game, obviously, to get in, but assuming we get in we’re gonna have to play a lot better than we did tonight.”
Steph Curry and Draymond Green had five giveaways each. Gary Payton II managed three in 21 minutes off the bench, and four other players finished with two turnovers.
The only thing more frustrating than watching the Warriors throw the ball all over the floor? It’s merely a continuation of not just their biggest problem during a wildly uneven 2022-23. but the same trend that’s dogged the Dubs for years.
Kerr knows by now that Golden State’s unique playing style lends itself to turnovers. The mind-meld playmaking magic between Curry and Green, for instance, is still ripe for errors of miscommunication, timing and execution more than a decade into their partnership. But there’s still a line of offensive freedom and ingenuity the Warriors can’t cross if they want to repeat as champions.
“We’ve always been a team that kind of lives on the edge, we’re a little wild, a little chaotic, but we’ve thrived in that chaos for many years. So we just can’t cross the edge,” Kerr said.
“It’s up to us. We have it in us. But the focus, the attention to detail, it all has to be there.”
