Start the NBA playoffs now. There’s no time to waste.

Right around the new year, it becomes evident which teams have serious championship designs and why others have nothing to anticipate but next season. So we’re here, in the wake of one of the greatest games ever staged at Oracle Arena, and we make that positively absurd comment for a legitimate reason: It’s hard to believe the league will be this healthy when the playoffs actually start.

Warriors-Houston was a classic because James Harden, Stephen Curry, Kevin Durant and Klay Thompson — the ones you’d pay to see — were wildly entertaining, Harden elevating himself into some other galaxy. The Rockets were missing Chris Paul and Eric Gordon, but they’ll be back on the court soon. Same for LeBron James with the Lakers. Superstars are thriving in every direction: Russell Westbrook, Anthony Davis, Giannis Antetokounmpo, Kawhi Leonard, DeMar DeRozan, Damian Lillard, Joel Embiid, Kemba Walker, Bradley Beal and Kyrie Irving (feel free to add to that list), along with such enthralling up-and-comers as Luka Doncic and De’Aaron Fox.

With the Warriors’ DeMarcus Cousins joining the crowd within a few weeks.

The league has seldom been more exciting, or blessed with more elite talent, and it’s a stone-cold reality that an 82-game season takes its toll. Key players will be exhausted, hobbling or sidelined by May and June; that is always the case. So enjoy the episodes at hand, and realize this: There’s a huge group of contenders out there, every one of them housing genuine belief that the Warriors can be dethroned.

Houston, Denver and Oklahoma City are very much for real. Utah, Portland and the Clippers are looming threats. San Antonio seems to have rediscovered the magic. Any team with LeBron has a chance. Boston, Philadelphia and Toronto could walk away with the title. Milwaukee and Indiana will have a say. And it’s all quite wonderful, from this point of view.

It’s glaringly evident now that the Warriors’ mystique is fading. The balance between isolation sets and their fabled ball movement can be awkward at times. As a number of solid teams boast a lively youth movement, the Warriors have come up short. Even as Kevon Looney had an excellent game Thursday night, Rockets center Clint Capela came up with 29 points and 21 rebounds. And Golden State has lost three straight games at Oracle, a scenario once believed to be impossible.

Curry wore a thin sort of smile during spells of his postgame interviews, making it clear that he savors the notion of a vulnerable world champion. He can’t wait to trigger an elevated performance that carries the Warriors right into another parade. He seems to know it will happen, and you see a bit of Bill Russell in that stance, a shade of Michael Jordan. That’s how the great ones think, and it stirs the soul.

However it comes down, let’s hope only a scant few players are on crutches, or grinding through rehab, at playoff time. Let the blessings of January have staying power.

The ex-Warriors report

What’s with Omri Casspi getting into a scuffle with Memphis Grizzlies teammate Garrett Temple after a recent game? Sources report that Casspi, who played with the Warriors last season, got called out in a vitriolic team meeting for being selfish — allegedly caring more about his playing time than the wins and losses — and the argument escalated into a physical confrontation. Things have really gone sour with that team after a promising start. ... Just when things looked promising for another Golden State short-timer, Nick Young, he was waived by the Denver Nuggets last weekend. Young spent just three weeks with the team after being signed via the injury hardship relief exception, becoming expendable when a number of injured players returned to action. So how’s life with Swaggy P? “I’m just an outgoing cool cat,” he told the Denver Post. “A handsome guy, kinda like a ladies’ man in the movies. Come meet me. I’m like a monument.” ... Chris Boucher never caught on with the Warriors. The gangly, 6-foot-10 center got into just one game with Golden State last season and was waived in June amid reports that he had a questionable attitude during his time in the G League. But the Toronto Raptors took a chance on the former Oregon player who was raised in Montreal, and he could be an impressive late bloomer at 26. After dominating this season’s G League, averaging nearly 30 points and 13 rebounds for Raptors 905, Boucher was called up for two NBA games in November and has been with Toronto since mid-December. ...

The A’s rotation seems painfully thin at the moment, but picture this: With a bit of luck and successful injury rehabilitation, it’s possible they could have Sean Manaea, A.J. Puk, Jharel Cotton, minor-league sensation Jesus Luzardo and heralded prospect James Kaprielian (Tommy John surgery and shoulder issues) in the big leagues by late next year. ... At least one can dream, which might be a stretch for fans anticipating a new stadium at Howard Terminal. “What’s in the way of that project?” asked sports-business consultant Andy Dolich. “Toxic remediation, environmental challenges relating to the adjacency of a commercial and public waterway, no financial plan in place, no corporate naming-rights partner, no federal, state or local approval of the gondola project, business relocations, legal challenges, bureaucratic roadblocks, I-880 access/egress, track traffic from Amtrak and BART, no sign of approval from (MLB commissioner) Rob Manfred, no sign of (owner) John Fisher at all, and possible pushback from neighbors in West Oakland.” Asked for his opinion on when fans can expect this stadium to become reality, Dolich went with “that monster hit by Johnny Mathis in 1958, ‘The Twelfth of Never.’”

Bruce Jenkins is a columnist for The San Francisco Chronicle. E-mail: bjenkins@sfchronicle.com