With a record of 24-5, now is as good a time as any for a little perspective.

For the week of Monday, Dec. 22 – Sunday, Dec. 28

Record: 2-2

There was a time not too long ago when a .500 week with losses coming to teams from Los Angeles, one of which on Christmas Day no less, was considered a step in the right direction for the Warriors franchise. Now, obviously the landscape has morphed quite a bit in recent years, both for the Warriors and their NBA counterparts, but the conclusion of this past week marks a fitting time for a little reflection. At 24-5, the Warriors now have more victories than they accrued during the lockout-shortened 2011-12 season. You might remember that was the same season that netted Harrison Barnes, Festus Ezeli and Draymond Green in the resulting draft, which one could certainly make the case marks the critical juncture in the franchise’s recent turnaround. Furthermore, the 24 wins are also more victories than the Warriors achieved in any full 82-game season from ’97-’98 to ’01-’02. So while with 40 percent of this season’s losses having come within the last week may ironically be misconstrued as time for panic, the picture remains quite bright when viewed from the correct perspective.

Every team will have hiccups during the course of the season. That’s just life in the NBA. The defeat at the hands of the Lakers was as bad as the Dubs have looked all year, and the fourth-quarter stumble against the Clippers highlighted the current lack of depth created by a recent string of injuries. Still, if this is what’s considered a low point more than a third of the way through the season, that’s a victory in itself. With dominating wins over the Kings and Timberwolves to bookend the week, the Warriors once again proved their record atop the NBA standings is truly indicative of their overall talent and potential. With 53 games left on the docket, the chances are quite high that the Dubs will stumble here and there a few times more. However, we’ve seen enough of them to know that, in the meantime, they’re going to be quite successful, and that should be the predominant focus of any assessment.

Standout Spotlight: Stephen Curry

The fact that Stephen Curry could earn this designation after what was a rather pedestrian week for his standards is perhaps the only new way left to describe his ascension into superstardom. With averages of 18.3 points, 4.0 rebounds, 7.5 assists and 2.8 steals in just under 31 minutes over the course of the last four games, nothing really jumps off the page, and that’s exactly the point. We’ve become spoiled by his brilliance to the point that we take his consistency for granted and forget that even his average week is superior to the vast majority of all other players in today’s game. With 25 points and six assists in Saturday’s win over Minnesota, Curry tallied his 26th game this season with at least 15 points and five assists, which leads the NBA. He’s now dished out at least five assists in 37 consecutive games going back to last season, which isn’t even the longest such streak of his career (47). This season he’s made the biggest strides on defense where he’s improved with greater responsibility, and with 11 steals on the week, he moved past Sleepy Floyd and Sonny Parker into seventh place on the Warriors’ all-time steals list. He’s currently the leading vote-getter amongst all NBA guards and second amongst all NBA players behind only LeBron James to start the upcoming All-Star game, and while some of that can be credited to the hyper-passionate Golden State fan base, let’s try not to take him for granted any more than we already do.

The Week Ahead:

Considering the typical winter climate of the home cities of the Warriors’ opponents this week, perhaps it’s fitting that the word polar comes to mind. With both the Philadelphia 76ers and Toronto Raptors making the trek to Oracle Arena this week, you’ll be hard pressed to find two teams more inversely related, both in terms of their season records and current trajectories. At 5-24, Philadelphia is in the thick of a drawn out rebuilding phase, and the numbers prove it. Scoring 12.4 fewer points per 100 possessions than the league average, the 76ers are on pace for the worst offense the league has seen in 38 years. Conversely, the Raptors (24-7) have scored 114 points per 100 possessions in the 15 games since DeMar DeRozan’s injury to take over the top spot in the league in team offensive rating. While the Dubs can likely get away with less than a perfect effort against the Sixers, they’re going to have their hands full against the Raptors, who enter the week with an impressive 9-2 record against the Western Conference. All things considered, it’s been a great 2014 for the Warriors. Now it’s time to see what 2015 has in store for them.