Kurtenbach: The Warriors’ ‘dress rehearsal’ showed the same problems that plagued last season’s team

New team, same problems. Luckily, Steph Curry is still around to save the day.

The Warriors wanted Wednesday’s preseason game against the Kings to be a dress rehearsal for the fast-approaching regular-season.

All it showed was that this team might need more practice time.

The Warriors coaches have prioritized two areas for improvement this preseason: limiting turnovers and defending without fouling.

Against the Kings, the Warriors were unable to do either.

The Warriors turned the ball over 22 times against the Kings, leading to 22 Sacramento points Wednesday.

And after a solid first half, the Warriors also put the Kings on the free-throw line 22 times in the second half — a huge component of Sacramento’s 18-point late-third-quarter lead.

It’s inauspicious stuff from the Dubs, to say the least.

But the Warriors also have Steph Curry, who covered up those problems with 16 fourth-quarter points, leading the Dubs to a 116-115 win.

Yes, it’s a story we’ve come to know and expect from the Warriors. The Dubs (Curry included) are careless with the ball and a step late on defense for 40-something minutes.

Then the superstar of all superstars comes in and saves the day.

But last season showed the limitations of such a formula. And while there is hope that perhaps this season will be different for the Warriors, Wednesday’s preseason performance doesn’t inspire confidence in that regard.

“This was the game we wanted to ramp it up,” Warriors coach Steve Kerr said after the win. “We gotta do things a lot better.”

This isn’t to say that the Warriors will be a bad team this season. I think they’ll be fine.

But if this preseason formula holds, the Warriors will be an up-and-down and unquestionably frustrating team this season.

You know, just like last season.

Remember, these mistakes the Warriors have shown this preseason led to last season’s team only winning 11 road games and being quickly bounced in the second round of the playoffs.

(Teams always turn the ball over more on the road, and the whistle never seems to go your way outside of your building. If these are issues for you at home, they’re fatal mistakes on the road and in the postseason.)

The joke around the Warriors is that this season, the team isn’t trying to repeat last season’s fate and finish last in turnovers per game — 29th place will do.

At least they’re being realistic with the goals.

Transitioning from Jordan Poole, who was fourth in the NBA in turnovers last season, to Chris Paul, the best assist-to-turnover ratio player (roughly 4-to-1) in league history, has shown positive returns this month.

Still, so far, it’s not translating into fewer turnovers.

And that’s even after Wednesday’s game, which was a positive for Paul, who had nine assists to three turnovers in the contest.

Iin his three preseason games with the Dubs, he has 19 assists to 10 turnovers. Not exactly Paul-like numbers.

Blame the system, not the player. Paul is showing off his preternatural floor vision plenty this preseason. He even had a cross-court pass to Andrew Wiggins in the corner in the second quarter Wednesday that was vintage “Point God” Paul.

You can’t blame the new guy. When Jonathan Kuminga and Curry turn the ball over five times and Klay Thompson chips in three, it’s hard to win.

And what happens when Draymond Green (nearly three turnovers per game) joins the fray?

Just as big of an issue for the Warriors is defending without fouling.

Warriors opponents shot 25 free throws per game last season, one attempt off the league-worst mark. All those free throws are easy points that mess up the Dubs’ rotations and keep them from offensive pace and rhythm. Even more than the turnovers, fouling was the culprit for so many Golden State losses last season.

And with this Dubs team coming into the campaign even more minuscule, being sound on defense is paramount to success.

Credit to the Warriors, they defended without fouling in the first half Wednesday — Sacramento shot two free throws in the first two quarters.

It can be done!

But after halftime, a parade to the line started.

Was the game perfectly adjudicated? No.

That’s how things go in the NBA preseason, regular season, or postseason.

Sacramento bailed out the Dubs by only going 15-for-22 from the line in the second half.

And Curry bailed out the Dubs by going 4-for-4 from beyond the arc in the fourth quarter.

The potential for such progress remains intact. It’s only preseason after all.

But in the three preseason games Curry has played — proper exhibitions — the Warriors have allowed 80 free throws and turned the ball over 62 times.

Yes, the Warriors won all three games, but this is not a formula for success when the games count.

Curry is still as good as anyone in the league, but the Warriors must move past the “Save us, Steph” playbook this season if it is to amount to anything. They only have a few days — and one preseason game — to show that’s in the cards for this campaign.