Sloppy Warriors Promise Fixes Before 2025-26 NBA Season Opener – NBC Sports Bay Area & California
SAN FRANCISCO – Stephen Curry concluded his 2025 NBA preseason Friday night as the best player on the court, while the rest of the Warriors too often looked like the team that fumbled its way into the heart of last season.
You may remember the days and nights of “mid,” before Jimmy Butler III came to fill the role of stabilizing sidekick, helping Curry take the team to heights it would never reach.
After the Warriors’ performance in the preseason, they might welcome Butler back with a kiss.
The most significant minutes of the 106-103 loss to the Los Angeles Clippers were a festival of turnovers and missed shots. In what is often considered a regular season dress rehearsal, there was more disorder than order.
The first quarter was a total disaster for the Warriors, with 11 turnovers resulting in 16 of LA’s 31 points. Golden State committed 23 turnovers in all, giving the Clippers 29 points.
“Nine [turnovers] in the first six minutes,” coach Steve Kerr said. “That bothers me.”
Brandin Podziemski committed three giveaways in the first quarter and finished with six. Draymond Green committed two in the first seven minutes and finished with five.
“A lot of turnovers, a lot of careless turnovers,” said Al Horford, who committed one turnover in 20 minutes. “I started with one, went to the post and threw it out of bounds. And I feel like after that, we had an avalanche.”
Some chaos is natural, as injuries to Moses Moody and Butler – starters at the end of last season – have forced Kerr to shuffle between a variety of lineups, some of which may never be seen again.
Curry, who committed one turnover in 30 minutes, made no excuses for those on the court, regardless of lineups.
“I would say overall it was a sloppier game,” Curry said.
“But the preseason is interesting because you’re trying things out, but there’s not a lot of game plan preparation in the sense of ‘What do the Clippers do?’ We have a mentality for this type of approach and you save a lot of it for the regular season.
In short, the Warriors were keeping their regular season plans under wraps. It didn’t matter that the Clippers were without Kawhi Leonard, James Harden, Brook Lopez and Chris Paul.
Golden State’s biggest concealment, however, was Butler’s absence. He is among the best in the field at assessing disorder and restoring order. On a night when the Warriors desperately needed that ability, he was missing his third straight game after tweaking his left ankle last weekend. He appeared in only two of five preseason games.
He is, for this roster, a key ball carrier and, also, the cleanup man.
“Partly [was odd rotations]but some of it is just careless play and lack of fundamentals,” Kerr said. “One hand beats the dribble when two hands are available. And if you have two hands on the ball and the guy cuts as you pass, you can pull it back. But on the one hand you make it unbalanced. And we’ve had several. So, the fundamentals need to improve.
“But, you know, I think Jimmy solves a lot of that.”
Horford said, “I think once Jimmy gets back out there and all of our guys, I feel like there’s going to be more awareness and urgency and understanding that we need to take care of the ball.”
The Warriors have committed 110 turnovers in their five preseason games, averaging 22 per game. That’s about six or seven more than Kerr’s comfort zone.
“We definitely had a turnover problem during the preseason,” Kerr said. “But I’m confident that when the lights go out on Tuesday, our guys will be locked down.
“We’ve had a lot of mixed and matched lineups, but that’s no excuse for inattentive ones. So we have to get better. We need a couple of days of practice before we go to Los Angeles, but I’m confident we can do it. We should be fine.”
Taking care of the ball has been an issue with the Warriors for 11 seasons. It remains one of the focal points of every match. Butler is the antidote. At least they hope it is.
Download and follow the Dubs Talk podcast