The Warriors will head into the NBA All-Star break with plenty of confidence despite a rough stretch of games that ended in a heartbreaking loss.
Losing to the Denver Nuggets 117-116 at the buzzer Wednesday night at Chase Center, the Warriors head into the break with a 42-17 record, good for the No. 2 seed in the Western Conference behind the Phoenix Suns (48-10).
Having lost three of their past four games, Golden State has looked deflated, even though the team has plenty to be pleased with heading into the final stretch of the season.
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After the game, Steph Curry was asked for his evaluation of the team thus far and discussed why the Warriors remain optimistic.
"It's difficult because we played well enough to win tonight," Curry told reporters postgame. "We wanted to have an opportunity to go into the break on a high note. And for 47:55 seconds we gave ourselves a good shot to do that. He makes the game-winner, changes the vibe dramatically, but we're in a solid position in terms of where we are in the standings.
"Optimistic that we'll get a couple guys back at some point after the break, then we gotta figure out what our rotation is going into the playoffs. But overall I guess it's a solid place to be, you have to focus like that. And if we play like we did tonight consistently down the stretch and continue to elevate our performance on the defensive end, then we'll be just fine going into the stretch run of the season. Tonight was a decent step in the right direction even though we feel like trash right now."
Defensive star Draymond Green has been nursing a lower back/disc injury, having missed the Warriors' last 21 games including Wednesday night's loss. The team provided an update on Green's rehab before the game and expressed confidence that the four-time NBA All-Star will return at some point after the break.
Golden State Warriors
Whenever Green and the other injured Warriors return to the court, Curry believes that the sky is the limit when healthy.
"There are other things we have to correct while getting him (Draymond) back up to speed," Curry said. "Obviously, Andre [Iguodala] hasn't played a lot as of late and then the question marks surrounding what [James Wiseman] is going to bring. We are in that final third of the year, we haven't been whole in a long time, we're trying to hold the fort down. Because I know the way we are constructed and the way that pieces fit. We can compete with anybody, we know that and you scrap and claw when guys are out next-man-up mentality. But our ceiling is only predicated on everyone being available. It's pretty straightforward."
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Curry and Warriors forward Andrew Wiggins will start in the upcoming All-Star Game on Sunday, while Juan Toscano-Anderson and Jonathan Kuminga will also represent the Warriors by participating in the Slam Dunk Contest and Rising Stars Game, respectively.
For the rest of the team, they will use the week off to prepare for the final 23 games of the regular season.