The All-Star break typically signifies the beginning of the end of the season. When NBA teams have an 82 game schedule, the break is most welcomed by the teams at the top. Remarkably enough, the standings in the Western Conference are fairly set, with the early successors in Phoenix and Utah staying near the top. It takes a lot to win in this league, and because sustained success is hard to come by, there needs to be some recognition for that.

And the Golden State Warriors, who get every team’s best shot as revenge for the past 6 or 7 years, are no exception.

The Warriors have faced a lot of adversity this season. It’s pretty impressive that they’ve maintained the 2nd seed in the West despite sliding through injuries, slumps, and the normal wear-and-tear of the season. So far, they’ve taken each punch in stride. Three of their starters were named to the All-Star team in Cleveland, although Draymond Green will not play.

There’s been plenty of ups, and plenty of downs. So we’ll cover the positives, negatives, and the biggest questions moving forward now that the Dubs are on break. Hopefully, we can put the course of the season into the right perspective, and see what the team needs to do moving forward to keep their winnings ways.

The Positives
1) The Warriors have the league’s 2nd best record at 42-17
This is the big one. If you took a look daily at Twitter, you’d think the Warriors are a play-in team. Most media outlets predicted this squad would go barely over .500; they’ve already eclipsed their Vegas prediction for wins totals and we just got to All-Star Weekend. The team has looked very solid at points in the season, and have gotten a lot of contributions from young players, new faces, and of course, the vets. They’ve been able to drown out the noise and keep playing Warriors hoops despite their issues. If there’s one thing to take away from this list, it’s that this team continues to win despite the issues they’ve had.

2) The defense is still the league’s #1 defense
You can’t talk about winning without talking about defense. The identity that Draymond Green has instilled in this team, despite being sidelined for the last 19 games, is all about defense. This squad prides itself on defense. While Green deserves a ton of credit, the buy-in from everyone on the roster - including major strides for supposed defensive black hole Steph Curry - is incredible, and Steve Kerr has engineered a defensive scheme that’s been amongst the league’s best. A lot of credit should go to Mike Brown as well, as he’s been a major piece of putting Kerr’s defense into action.

3) The young guns have stepped up
Jordan Poole. Moses Moody. Jonathan Kuminga. You’ll want to remember those three names for a couple years (and James Wiseman, but we’ll get to him later). Poole had his break-out moment around this time last season, becoming the clear #3 behind Steph Curry and Andrew Wiggins. While the scoring pecking order has been re-established, Poole has reinvented himself as what Warriors commentators have coined as an “offense generator”. He’s become a smarter passer, taken better care of the ball, and has made strides in both playmaking and shot-taking IQ over the course of the year. While Moody hasn’t quite hit the stride of his fellow rookie Kuminga has, his G-League stint averaging about 32 points per game earned him some more consistent rotation minutes, and he’s done solid with them. He has a bright future for certain, and fits into a motion offense well just off the eye test. Kuminga has been a revelation and a half, playing his way into a serious rotation role that will likely remain consistent come playoff-time. Overall, these three guys have been key components to a lot of Warriors wins, and show off a bright future.

The Negatives
1) The Steph Curry Slump
Usually, a player averaging 25/5/6 on 54% eFG is not considered a down season. That’s the kind of greatness Steph Curry has, that an MVP-caliber season for another guy just is not good enough for him to be in the conversation. To be fair, he’s had two of his worst games of his career in this season. While he’s picked up his play recently with better efficiency and playmaking, the slump was abysmal to the point that Curry was had a worse FG% than Russell Westbrook.

2) The injury bug
Klay Thompson was gone from the hardwood for two years. Him and Draymond Green have shared a total of 7 seconds on the floor since his return… because Green has been injured. Andre Iguodala and Otto Porter Jr. constantly need rest due to injury-ridden histories. James Wiseman hasn’t played a game this year and needed arthroscopic surgery to clean up some issues with his knee. While other teams have had it worse (shoutout Brooklyn Nets), injuries are a part of the story this season and have had some impact. Which leads into the last point…

3) Several marks of inconsistency
The rotations. The minutes distribution. One game there’s adaptive strategy, the next they’re not. While injuries and lineup issues have been a major part of this, it’s also a byproduct of inconsistent play from a few members of the roster and how Steve Kerr has chosen to deal with that. He’s been dealt a tough hand, and tinkering is the best option sometimes, but inconsistency is not the way to build habits. There’s a ton of examples of this inconsistency. This is historically not a concern, as post-ASB tends to be when the Dubs lock in for the playoffs, but it’s something to keep an eye on.

The Questions
1) When will James Wiseman be back?
For the Dubs fans clamoring after getting a new center, this one’s for you. The team literally has one built in. I’ll never understand the “any center but Wiseman” mindset, but that’s neither here nor there. The fact of the matter is, the Warriors need him to be back. He’s the only 7-footer on the roster, he was still very solid last season despite obvious room for growth, and if the development track of Poole/Moody/Kuminga has been any indication, he’ll come back. He doesn’t even need to be dominant, he just needs to fit into a role where he can be a post presence, maybe block some shots, and catch lobs. Not a ton to ask, but still a part of the team that could open up a whole new dimension of potential for matchup issues for playoff opponents.

2) Can Steph get back into gear?
I hate to be the guy who puts this on the superstar, because there’s a lot of other issues that are more relevant right now, but this team goes as far as Steph Curry can lead them. He needs to be playing better than he is right now for this team to hit its peak. When Steph is going, there is no team in the NBA that can beat the Warriors. He’s lost his stride a bit, and we’re coming up on the spring where he’s historically been very good (see: April last season). This will be an important stretch for him to fully break back into MVP form, but it will be even more important come playoff time.

(Photo credit: NBAE / Getty Images)