SAN FRANCISCO – In the wake of the most disappointing loss as a member of the Warriors, Jimmy Butler III divulged what haunted him but didn’t cast blame and point fingers over what taunted him most. He didn’t have to.
The box score provided all necessary explanation. Faced with a prime opportunity to create space for themselves in the crowded Western Conference playoff race, the Warriors gave it away, donating 24 unearned points.
The Denver Nuggets took the gifts and ran out of Chase Center with a 114-105 victory even they could not have expected insofar as they were without three starters, including three-time MVP Nikola Jokić and his most productive sidekick Jamal Murray.
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“All I asked of our guys, going into it, I said, ‘Just compete. Have each other's backs, just compete,’” Nuggets coach Michael Malone said. “And did they do that at such a high level.”
Denver outcompeted the sixth-place Warriors, who blew a chance to pull within 2.5 games of the third-place Nuggets but instead are now 4.5 games to the rear.
Being outhustled in defeat bothered every member of the Warriors, players and coaches, as it should. Butler, however, zeroed in one of his pet peeves. One he shares with Golden State coach Steve Kerr.
“Our care for the basketball,” Butler said. “We turned it over way too much. We were very loose with the basketball, careless with it. Got them into the open floor, and they saw the ball go in early and it never stopped.”
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Denver’s B team, led by veterans Aaron Gordon (game-high 38 points) and Russell Westbrook (a 12-points, 16-assists, 12-rebounds triple-double), made a mockery of the Warriors’ lax defense, which too often was compromised by live-ball turnovers.
“It hurts me,” said Butler, who had two turnovers in 33 minutes. “I ain’t going to lie to you. I hate turning ball over. I hate when we turn the ball over. We’ve just got to be better at that. If we get shots on goal, we're a very hard team to beat.
“But you ain’t going to beat many people in this league, no matter who's on the floor, with 20 turnovers.”
The Warriors are 0-5 when they commit at least 20 turnovers. They are 2-7 when they give away 24 or more points off turnovers.
A high-turnover team in their dynastic seasons, these Warriors, with diminished overall talent, had managed their turnovers relatively well in the first 12 games with Butler on the roster. Over the last five, though, they have returned to an old habit, giving away 118 points off 101 turnovers.
Golden State’s most dangerous enemy is, as Butler implied, itself.
Stephen Curry, moving more carefully than usual due to back soreness, committed seven turnovers in 36 minutes. Draymond Green committed four in 33 minutes. Jonathan Kuminga and Gui Santos each committed three.
“Dumb plays all night,” Curry said.
The accuracy of that comment is pinpoint, which can’t be said of many of the passes the Warriors flung around Chase Center. The kind of passes that sabotaged Golden State’s fourth-quarter comeback.
“It’s hard to win an NBA game when you throw the ball to the other team 10 times,” Kerr said. “That’s what we were facing tonight.”
Trailing by eight with 2:35 remaining, Green hurled a 60-foot pass that was intercepted. Two possessions later, trailing by six, Curry’s underhand lob for Kuminga sailed wide – and led to a Denver bucket that pretty much sealed the outcome.
“I didn’t play great at all,” said Curry, who scored 20 points on 6-of-21 shooting from the field, including 4 of 13 from deep. “Whenever we have the amount of turnovers that we did – and not even the amount but type – that can't happen. And obviously that starts with me.”
No need for Butler to point fingers. The story of this game was told in black and white. Curry knew it and didn’t try to hide his guilt.
The Milwaukee Bucks are up next, Tuesday night at Chase. A dangerous team, to be sure, but that’s true of any Warriors opponent when they conspire against themselves.