The Golden State Warriors are far from where they hoped to be 20 games into the season. The Dubs are 10-10 and were far from firing on all cylinders even before Steph Curry suffered a left quad contusion. While Jimmy Butler and Draymond Green have consistently blamed the team’s defensive intensity for the Warriors disappointing record, Golden State’s offensive woes have seemed to be a far larger problem. Offensively, the Warriors have struggled with one thing most of all: turnovers.
The Dubs have committed 16.6 turnovers per game this season, an 18.6% increase over last season. Despite actually forcing more opponent turnovers per game than last season, the Warriors have gone from forcing 1.7 more turnovers per game than they’ve committed to committing 0.2 more turnovers per game than their opponents. Yet, while those shifts may seem small, they reflect a team wide trend.
Nine Warriors players currently have the most single-season turnovers per 36 minutes of their careers: Draymond Green (4.0), Steph Curry (3.6), Gui Santos (3.6), Jonathan Kuminga (3.5), Trayce Jackson-Davis (1.9), Quinten Post (1.8), Moses Moody (1.8), Gary Payton II (1.7), and Brandin Podziemski (1.7). Veteran role players Buddy Hield (2.4) and Al Horford (2.2) have the second-worst single-season marks of their careers as well. Jimmy Butler remains the only consistent member of Golden State’s rotation that is not committing turnovers at one of the highest rates for his career.
Given the Warriors lack of offensive firepower outside of Curry and Butler, squandering possessions without attempting shots at a high rate puts Golden State in an even worse position. Solving the Warriors turnover woes could go a long way toward turning things around.
The Warriors are far from the only team who has seen a spike in turnovers this season. The Warriors are committing the fifth-most turnovers per game in the NBA. They are among nine teams averaging more than 16 turnovers per game, a mark that only the Jazz eclipsed last season.The success of the Pacers and Thunder last season with defensive schemes that aimed to force turnovers through aggressive ball pressure has led more teams around the league to maximize athleticism and length defensively.
It’s not surprising that the Warriors have been particularly hurt by this strange in leaguewide strategy. The Warriors lack ball handling and athleticism. The team’s three primary initiators (Curry, Butler, and Green) have all long been limited athletically compared to their NBA peers, and now are in the twilights of their careers. Add in Curry and Green’s longstanding tendency for a couple absurd head-scratching turnovers a night, and there’s a recipe for wasted possessions.
Perhaps the Warriors grueling travel schedule has played a role as well, and more rest will see them limit turnovers over time. However, at the moment, it seems like general manager Mike Dunleavy Jr. may need to be eyeing a primary ball handler at the trade deadline to help Golden State’s offense handle the latest defensive innovations.