What we learn as season-high 29 turnovers doom Warriors vs. Thunder

What we learn as season-high 29 turnovers doom Warriors vs. Thunder originally appeared on NBC Sports Bay Area

The Warriors did everything, and we mean everything, in their power to give the game away Friday night at Paycom Center.

If that was the plan, the Warriors were successful, losing to the Oklahoma City Thunder 138-136 in overtime thanks to a turnover fest that was hard to fathom.

So, how bad was the Warriors’ love for losing the ball? They turned it over 29 times, and they’re lucky the Thunder didn’t take better advantage of the Warriors’ affinity for such sloppiness. The Thunder, who turned the ball over just 11 times for six Warriors points, scored 35 points off turnovers.

The real question is, how was this one even close?

Oklahoma City entered the day with the best team 3-point shooting percentage in the NBA, and ranked 10th in threes made per game. Luckily for the Warriors, the Thunder were ice-cold from deep, going 5 of 29. The Warriors were 19 of 47 beyond the arc, giving them a 42-point advantage on threes.

Yet, the Warriors lost by two points on a night where they also grabbed 20 more rebounds than the Thunder.

Here are three takeaways from the Warriors’ latest loss, dropping them to 10-12 on the season.

Loyal Starting Lineup

Steve Kerr hinting at possible changes to the Warriors’ usual starting lineup brought plenty of intrigue into Friday night. Then, Kerr trotted the same five he has wanted to get going all season long. And in the first half, they rewarded their coach’s loyalty.

Steph Curry, Klay Thompson, Andrew Wiggins, Draymond Green and Kevon Looney played 10 minutes and 47 seconds together through the first two quarters. Each player had a positive plus/minus and they were a plus-7 sharing the floor, outscoring the Thunder 29-22.

The results weren’t quite as good in the second half, and the leash was much shorter. Kerr’s starting group then was a minus-4 together in the second half over five minutes, and he started Jonathan Kuminga…