This season has been a rollercoaster. If the Western Conference weren’t separated by a few games in the middle of the standings, the Warriors may be in even deeper water than they find themselves now. And even then, after scrapping by, it’s becoming apparent that the way they’ve handled this recent stretch of the season is… not excellent.

Golden State kept up a win streak dating back a number of years against the Cleveland Cavaliers on Friday, a game on the second half of a back-to-back where four starters were resting. The Cavs were missing all-star Donovan Mitchell, but how the Warriors managed to convincingly beat a fresh group which is looking for a deep playoff run after an overtime heartbreaker in Boston the night before is something of a mystery.

So we’re going to introduce a concept to explain why this team has had so many issues closing out the close ones.

“Dynasty fatigue” can be best defined as a mindset of looking too far ahead. In a lot of ways, it’s carelessness: The Warriors have such a high level of confidence, and their core has proven time and again that there’s nobody who can beat them when at full strength in the playoffs, that they’re coasting in the regular season; it’s not just getting them blown out by worse teams, but also resulting in leading for 3 quarters before collapsing in the final frame. It was most prevalent with Klay Thompson and Draymond Green to start the year, with Klay’s shot selection being a bit out-of-the-ordinary and Dray’s buy-in on the defensive end lacking.

The most recent dynasty fatigue culprit, however, has been Stephen Curry. Tonight in a loss where the Warriors blew a 17-point lead in the 4th quarter to beat the Kevin Durant-less Brooklyn Nets, Curry looked passive and had some lapses which led to unforced turnovers. This was the case in the 4th quarter against Boston as well, where he took and missed a game-winning shot while he had big man Al Horford switched onto him with time on the clock to create a better look in addition to a myriad of missed chances and momentum-swinging turnovers.

Overall, the Dubs have been tricking games where they’ve looked dominant in stretches. It seems like the focus is more on just getting to the playoffs than getting a good seeding for the postseason, and that’s reflecting in how they close games. Careless errors which veterans who have won multiple championships shouldn’t be making are made constantly, the effort isn’t always there, some guys hunt bad shots while some go on heaters and then get too passive when they should be putting the pedal to the floor.

Golden State has another gear. That’s a fact we know not just because of their history, but because we’ve seen it multiple times this season: Boston at home, Memphis on Christmas, the Cavaliers this week, and even in games where they lose, like in Boston and tonight against the Nets prior to the last few minutes of both. This team gets up for big games and executes well down the stretch until something just gives and they can’t recover from a few lazy mistakes. Basketball is a game of runs, especially in the NBA, which is a concept the Warriors are very familiar with because they can create runs like almost no other team.

Really the only way to fix this is with more effort. A trade to shore up the end of the bench rotation doesn’t do much in the way of getting the core of the dynasty to try harder, even if it may help the team get a few scrappy wins and bring in a usable reinforcement for the playoffs.

Sneaking into the postseason may end up working out, but it’s not going to get a chance to if they end up in the play-in and their bad habits come back to bite them for a one-game, winner-take-all situation. Taking games that seem meaningless and dominating them in the regular season is the first step in rectifying the fatigue they now face: Build good habits now so you don’t have to correct them later.

It’s a little strange to harp on the guy behind the whole dynasty and the reason it all works. The unfortunate fact is that the two most recent of these losses can be attributed to Stephen Curry’s lackadaisical and otherwise-passive play. He came out of the gates swinging this season and is the reason the Warriors are still in the middle of the mix, but (at the risk of sounding like a broken alarm clock) this team goes as far as he can take them. And he’s where the effort (or lack thereof) starts. Him returning to form will be key for the season’s second half.

We’ve all been waiting for the “wake up call” game, where the Warriors get punched in the mouth by a team capitalizing on their mistakes and turn a dominant win into a loss they basically handed themselves. It very well could be tonight’s against Brooklyn, but it needs to happen soon with the All-Star Break fast approaching if this isn’t the one..

You can see it with this team. There’s a strong championship contender here. It’s a matter from here on out of buying back into the process and veering once again towards the Warriors’ winning ways.

(Photo credit: David Zalubowski / Associated Press)