Clippers plagued by turnovers in loss to Golden State

LOS ANGELES — Death by a thousand cuts — or turnovers. Whichever comes first.

“The turnovers are killing us,” Coach Tyronn Lue said after his Clippers gave Golden State a boost it didn’t need Sunday, turning over the ball 25 times and effectively spotting the Western Conference-leading Warriors 31 points in a 105-90 loss before a sold-out crowd of 19,068 at Staples Center.

“Bad turnovers,” Lue added. “Out of our 25 turnovers, 13, 14 were just bad turnovers. We just gotta do a better job with our decision making, maybe I gotta put our guys in different positions, I’m not sure.

“There’s plays to be made, we’re just not making the right play right now and we talked about it since preseason, when we were turning the ball over preseason … If you turn the ball over 25 times against the other team, you’re probably gonna lose, but especially Golden State. If you do that, you’re gonna be in for a long night.”

It was the most turnovers by a Clippers team since they coughed it up 26 times on Dec. 15, 2018, in a 110-104 loss at Oklahoma City, and the most giveaways by a team under Lue.

Adding insult: Though the Warriors also had possession issues, giving it away 17 times, the Clippers couldn’t take advantage of their generosity, scoring just 10 points off turnovers.

And yet! the Clippers (11-9) were within a point — 60-59 — with 2:50 to play in the third quarter, when Jordan Poole got Golden State going with four 3-pointers and a technical free throw, effective retaliation after Clippers center Isaiah Hartenstein blocked and screamed at the Warriors guard.

And then, in the fourth, Steph Curry slammed the door, scoring 13 of his 33 points to help the Warriors (18-2) outscore the Clippers 30-22 to secure their seventh consecutive win.

Curry shot 12 for 22 from the field and 7 for 13 from 3-point range to lead all scorers.

For L.A., Paul George was 11 for 24 for 30 points, in addition to five rebounds, five assists and a eight turnovers, equaling a career high that he’s hit eight times this season and never before in his 11 previous NBA seasons.

“I just talked to him to start the third quarter,” Lue said. “Just told him, like, ‘You can’t get too deep, because they’re coming with five guys. They protect the paint, and they get back out. They have a lot of length, you know. So when you get too deep into the paint, it’s hard to make those passes out to the perimeter.’

“So just understanding what teams are trying to do, how they’re trying to play us, and then what we got to do offensively. But we’ll watch it tomorrow and hopefully we’ll continue to get better.”

Marcus Morris Sr. added 13 points (nine of which came in the opening quarter) and Eric Bledsoe finished with a double-double, 13 points and 10 rebounds. Bledsoe’s first basket — a 3-pointer — pushed him over 10,000 for his career.

In a meeting between the NBA’s two top-rated defensive teams, the Warriors didn’t reach the 100-point threshold (which they’ve crossed every game this season) until Curry drained an 11-foot floater with 3:27 to play.

The Warriors had a slight 44-42 edge going into the break after a choppy first half.

Turnovers piled up for both teams out of the gate, with the Clippers committing 12 before halftime and the Warriors giving it away nine times.

The Clippers went into halftime shooting 14 for 41 (34.1%) from the field — staying afloat on the basis of their 11-for-15 free-throw shooting. The Warriors weren’t much warmer: They went into the break having hit just 16 of their 40 shots and, fortunately for their hosts, just 6 of 13 from the charity stripe.

But counting on the high-octane Warriors to remain stagnant isn’t a recipe for success — nor is having more turnovers than field goals — which the Clippers did with 7:50 to play in the third quarter, at which the Clippers had 16 giveaways and 15 made shots and still were within striking distance, down 55-45 after a 32-footer and breakaway layup from Curry.

The Clippers matched their season high with 20 turnovers with 3:46 to go in the third quarter.

After a choppy two and a half quarters of play, the spigot opened up late in the third period, when Poole scored 15 of his 17 points and the Clippers started the period shooting 1 for 6 from the field, but they went 8 for 12 after that.

George hit four of his last five looks in the quarter to help the Clippers stay in contact, at least until a fired-up Curry got hot — red-hot. He erupted angrily and was T’d up after not drawing a foul with about nine minutes left in the fourth quarter (when he scored 13 of his points).

“It was as upset as I’ve seen Steph in a long time and it was as upset as I’ve been in a long time too,” Warriors Coach Steve Kerr said. “It’s kind of a miracle that I didn’t get a technical. But, it seemed to get him going. So, whatever it takes I guess.”

For the Warriors, Otto Porter Jr. chipped in with 18 points and a team-high 10 rebounds off the bench. Andrew Wiggins finished with 12 points.

The Clippers will try to get it going Monday when they’ll face New Orleans in their second of five games this week at 7:30 p.m. at Staples Center.