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The Golden State Warriors aren't exactly spiraling, but they are definitely grinding their gears pretty good. Though they retain the No. 3 seed for the moment, their playoff positioning is growing less stable by the day as they've lost 11 of of their last 17 games and now lead the No. 4 Utah Jazz by just two games with one head-to-head matchup remaining. 

Golden State seemed like it was starting to find some rhythm with four straight wins, but then Stephen Curry went down against the Celtics last week, and now the Warriors have lost three straight again. The latest defeat came at the hands of the Orlando Magic on Tuesday night, 94-40, and afterward Draymond Green voiced his frustrations with how the Warriors are playing. 

"We're playing soft. We're playing stupid. We're just not playing good basketball. And we're getting punked. It's hard to win a game getting punked," Green told reporters.

"We're losing a lot of fourth quarters. That's execution. But in order to execute it requires a certain level of physicality, and we're not meeting that. No disrespect to the Orlando Magic, but that's one of the worst teams in the league, and we can't match that with them. So if you can't match that with them, you're definitely not going to do it against a great team. I wouldn't necessarily say it's a concern, but that's what's happening. I don't doubt that we can fix it, but if we're going to win some games, it's got to be fixed."

Every team in the league is dealing, or has dealt, with a rash of injuries and absences this season, so it's not so much an excuse for the Warriors as it is a simple truth: They're not a true championship-contending team unless Green and Curry are healthy and playing well. 

The Warriors barely treaded water when Green was out for two months, and just when they get him back, Curry goes on the shelf for what could very well be the rest of the regular season. Suffice it to say, the Warriors are a shell of themselves without Curry. 

And now the schedule is about to get a lot tougher. Even without Curry, the Warriors had two winnable games against the Spurs and Magic and let them get away, and now five of their next six games are against the Heat, Hawks, Grizzlies, Suns and Jazz. Obviously the games against Memphis and Utah -- the teams directly above and below Golden State in the standings -- are vital, and with the way they're playing right now, Green is right ... they're not going to fare well against the really good teams. 

Right now it feels like grab-the-handlebars-and-hold-on time for the Warriors, who just want to get into the postseason healthy and hopefully with a top-four seed and home-court advantage in the first round. After that, they'll take their chances like everyone else in what is shaping up to be a wide-open title chase.