The Golden State Warriors have failed to find a winning formula over the past couple of months.
Of course many contributing factors have been out of their hands entirely. They can't help the Jimmy Butler or Moses Moody injuries, and Stephen Curry has had very little time to acclimate back into the rotation since his return on April 5.
Golden State has gone 1-3 in games in which Curry has appeared since his return from injury, suffering losses to the Los Angeles Clippers, Sacramento Kings, and Houston Rockets. At the end of the day, those games were more about process than they were about results. Steve Kerr was allowed the opportunity to feel out the Warriors' new rotation and attempt to coach them into cohesiveness with the Play-In Tournament looming.
Still, it's hard not to be worried as the Warriors head into a do-or-die matchup against the Clippers on Wednesday.
Los Angeles has been among the league's premier offensive teams over the final stretch of the regular season. The Warriors are already at a disadvantage given how little time they've had with their current roster together.
But an even quieter disadvantage, the Clippers' ability to force turnovers and capitalize in transition, could ultimately be what brings Golden State's season to an end.
Clippers can take advantage of the Warriors' ball-handling weaknesses
In fairness, the Warriors have been missing the primary facilitator of their offense for much of the second half of the season. While Curry is not the league's most prolific playmaker, the gravity he possesses opens up passing lanes and, on a larger scale, is the rock Golden State's offensive structure rests upon.
Things have gotten better since Curry's return. The Warriors turned the ball over only nine times in their last matchup against the Clippers. In their two matchups against the Kings, however, they had a combined 32 turnovers.
On a broader scale, things have not been great on that front. Since March 1, the Warriors have averaged 15.9 turnovers per game, good for the sixth-worst mark in the league in that span. The only play-in team that sits below them in that category is the Portland Trail Blazers.
The Clippers, for their part, haven't been great defensively all season. Shipping off Ivica Zubac at the trade deadline certainly didn't help things. But since March 1, they've been fifth in the NBA in turnovers forced and fourth in points off turnovers.
Kawhi Leonard is still a dominant defender despite having lost a step with age. Kris Dunn, Derrick Jones Jr., and even Kobe Sanders have stepped up this season to help pick up the slack.
In a seven-game series, the Warriors would at least have some room to figure out their offensive structure and address these problems. In a play-in scenario, a single run by the opposing team can usher in the end of your season. If Los Angeles is able to exploit this weakness and find some momentum in transition on Wednesday, the Warriors could quickly be left digging themselves out of a hole.
At the very least, it's a storyline to watch with Golden State's season on the line.
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