What we learned as turnovers doom Warriors in collapse to Raptors in overtime originally appeared on NBC Sports Bay Area

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With a chance at having their first four-game win streak of the season, the Warriors on Sunday gifted the Toronto Raptors a 141-127 overtime win three days after Christmas.

Steph Curry’s latest breathtaking show again couldn’t end in a Warriors win. Curry scored 39 points, giving himself 10 games of 30-plus points this season. The Warriors now are 4-6 when he scores at least 30 points this season.

The rest of the Warriors’ Big Three also did their part. Jimmy Butler tallied 19 points, six rebounds and five assists, and Draymond Green gave them 21 points, four rebounds and seven assists. 

But the Raptors had three players who finished with more than 20 points, and seven in double figures, including their entire starting five.

A handful of issues undid the Warriors in a frustrating loss. The Warriors were outrebounded 55 to 42, and forward Scottie Barnes came down with 25 rebounds by himself. The Raptors scored 29 points off 18 offensive rebounds. 

More than anything, though, the Warriors were bitten by their constant penchant for turnovers. In the end, the Warriors lost the turnover battle 21-15, turning into 35 points for the Raptors. The Warriors now are 4-13 when they have more turnovers than their opponent, while being 12-3 when having fewer or equal turnovers.

Here are three takeaways from the Warriors’ three-game losing streak coming to an end.

There were two road games Curry circled before last season: Charlotte and Toronto. Curry matched how many seasons in the NBA his father, Dell, played last year and the two cities hold sentimental value for different family reasons. Charlotte is home to Curry, where Dell spent 10 of his 16 seasons in the league. But his final three, which Steph remembers best, were north of the border with the Raptors. 

Now that Curry officially has passed his father’s time spent in the NBA, he gets to play two of his final three games of 2025 in those two special road arenas, starting with Sunday’s (loss or win) in Toronto. And Curry right away added to a never-ending highlight reel in the first quarter. 

Curry’s shot-making ability and gravitational pull brought him to 15 points at halftime while going a perfect 5 of 5 at the free-throw line. The Warriors’ first points of the second half then came from a four-point play by Curry, putting them from down one to ahead by three.

The second half was more reason for all of North America to always watch Curry. After 15 first-half points, Curry exploded for 24 points in the second half – 14 in the third and 10 in the second. He made all 11 of his free throws on the night for his second game of 10 or more free throw attempts this season.

Through the first month of the season, Green gave Golden State another threat behind the 3-point line. He was shooting 35.7 percent on threes over 16 games, a number the Warriors will gladly take. Green even made multiple threes in half the games he played (eight) over that month’s long stretch. 

But then his accuracy from deep began abandoning him. Green in his last month of nine games played came into Sunday having shot just 26.3 percent (10 of 38) beyond the arc, with teams begging him to let it fly. The Raptors used the same strategy, constantly sagging off him, and Green finally made them pay. He made two threes in the first half to bring him to 10 points, which gave Green just his third double-digit scoring game this month.

Another two threes in the third quarter brought Green up to four threes, his most in a game since making five on Nov. 7.

Green’s aggressiveness offensively was a major plus for the Warriors. He reached 20 points for the first time this season. But Green also was one of seven Warriors with multiple turnovers.

Same story, different day. Another clutch game for the Warriors full of inexcusable turnovers. 

The Warriors had a 12-point lead in the final minute of the third quarter when the Raptors then reeled off an 8-0 run behind two free throws and scoring off three straight Warriors turnovers. Right when the Warriors could have put the game away, they let the Raptors off the hook and paid severely for it. 

In their final home game of the calendar year, the Warriors had a lowly 11 turnovers for six points against the Dallas Mavericks. Those same fortunes didn’t happen against the Raptors. The Warriors were completely undone by being careless with the ball. 

Going into halftime, they were winning the turnover battle by one, six to seven, in which the Raptors had scored 10 points off turnovers. The second half was another story. The Warriors turned the ball over 13 times, six more than Toronto’s seven, and the Raptors took advantage by scoring 23 points off them. 

For the 17th time this season, the Warriors found themselves in a clutch game. They’re now 6-11 in such games. The Warriors turned the ball over five times in the clutch of the fourth quarter, and another two more in overtime. The Raptors in that time period didn’t have any turnovers while scoring 11 points off the Warriors’ seven turnovers.

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