Warriors’ midseason awards: Stephen Curry obvious MVP for team, but not NBA

As the Warriors looked surprisingly mortal over the past three months, many were quick to predict the demise of Golden State’s dynasty.

Such doomsday scenarios are funny to the Warriors, who have come to view the regular season as little more than an extended prelude to the playoffs. Asked after Tuesday night’s rout of the Knicks how he feels that Golden State only had 27 wins at the midpoint of the season, Kevin Durant bristled, shooting back, “Who cares?” before he explained that the “regular season is just to build your habits up.”

The Warriors might be lagging behind expectations, but they’re still in an enviable position. A 27-14 record entering Friday put Golden State 1½ games behind Denver for the Western Conference’s top seed.