In between Friday's loss to the Memphis Grizzlies and Sunday's win over the Sacramento Kings, it felt a lot like the beginning of the Golden State Warriors' season. They talked about needing to grow, figuring each other out and peaking come playoff time. Observers opined about how coach Steve Kerr should handle late-game situations. There was concern about how Kevin Durant's presence has affected Stephen Curry, and balancing his ability to create his own shot with the Warriors' beloved ball movement.

I'm not going to say all this was unwarranted. Golden State showed some previously unseen flaws in last year's playoffs, and they came to light again in its Christmas Day loss to the Cleveland Cavaliers and its collapse against Memphis. The Warriors have clearly been the best team in the league over the course of the season, but there are lingering questions about them that cannot be answered in the couple of games they play this week. That makes them more interesting, doesn't it?

WARRIORS CHECK-IN

Record: 32-6

Scoring leader: Kevin Durant (25.9)

Assists leader: Draymond Green (7.6)

Rebounding leader: Kevin Durant (8.7)

Last week: Defeated Nuggets, Blazers, Kings, lost to Grizzlies (3-1)

GAMES THIS WEEK

Tuesday, 10:30 p.m. ET: Miami Heat

Where: Oracle Arena in Oakland, California

TV: NBA TV

Streaming: PlayStation Vue

Thursday, 10:30 p.m. ET: Detroit Pistons

Where: Oracle Arena in Oakland, California

TV: TNT

Streaming: WatchTNT

KEEP AN EYE ON ...

Durant's isolations

After arriving in the Bay Area, Durant said his new team showed him that he had a lot to learn about the game. He had never played in a system like this, so reliant on movement, misdirection and timing. For the most part, he has adjusted well. He is holding the ball and dribbling it less than he did with the Oklahoma City Thunder, and he has cut down his turnovers and increased his shooting percentage. Durant is benefiting from open looks created by his teammates, and in some games he's been equal parts facilitator and scorer. When you factor in his defense, he has perhaps never been better.

Still, there is a natural tension between his ability to get buckets and the philosophy that has guided Golden State since Kerr took over. After Draymond Green screamed at him on Friday, that tension has come back into the conversation.

"I know how to play, I know how to move," Durant said Saturday, via the San Jose Mercury News' Anthony Slater. "When coach calls the play, I just run the play. So if he calls for me to get in the pick-and-roll. I'ma get in the pick-and-roll. If he wants me to ISO, I'ma ISO. [If he wants me to] move around, I'll move around. I know how to play. It's not that I'm just, like, restricted. But yeah, our offense has been good throughout the whole season. There's certain times throughout the game where we get a little stagnant, but when you have guys that move around so much and you have guys that can ISO, it's kind of hard to figure out, 'All right, what do we need to do, how's the game flowing, do we need more ISOs, do we need to run more movement stuff?' So it's a good problem to have, but sometimes you get lost in the middle and you don't know the balance between them both."

Part of the reason the Warriors wanted Durant was to create shots for himself quickly. This is useful in short-clock situations and against switching defenses, and it's generally accepted to be an asset in crunch time.

"I think he's capable of getting almost anything he wants, and I wouldn't know what the hell that would feel like, but sometimes, I guess if you have so many options, maybe it's harder," Kerr said, via the San Jose Mercury News' Anthony Slater. "Because there's uncertainty as to which option you should choose. But I think part of that is playing as a group, playing all five guys together, getting used to one another. It's different. It is different for him and for us, and we've gotta continue to grow together and become more comfortable with the new group that we have."

Kevin Durant in Sacramento
Kevin Durant is still more efficient than ever before. USATSI

Fourth-quarter issues!

Last week, we went with "Fourth-quarter issues?" After the debacle against the Grizzlies, an exclamation point seems appropriate. Also, just a week later, it's pretty funny that I wrote, "I'm not ready to call this a real problem, but I'll keep it in mind."

Green gave an honest assessment of the Warriors' late-game offense, and I loved every second of it. Not only is it true that it's easier to work on weaknesses when you're losing, it's easier to work on them when they're out in the open. This was the first time anyone around Golden State had said publicly that this was an issue, and Green must hope it will be a turning point.

Over the last couple of years, the Warriors have tended to avoid close games and have found ways to win them when necessary. All of this is new, and the league is watching to see if they'll reverse this trend.

"We're not used to these fourth-quarter struggles," Kerr said Saturday, via the Mercury News' Anthony Slater. "We've really closed teams well the last couple years. So it feels different. It feels weird."

Curry being Curry?

Just as the noise about Curry having a subpar season (by his standards) got louder, the back-to-back MVP dropped a total of 105 points on 72 shots against Portland, Memphis and Sacramento. In all three games, he led Golden State in points and shot attempts.

Curry's usage rate is 28.5 percent compared to last year's 32.6 percent, and nobody should expect that number to get back to where it was. It'll be significant, though, if Curry takes over more games and/or starts making more deep 3s off the dribble. Those things happened all the time pre-Durant.

BIGGEST ONE-ON-ONE MATCHUP

Andre Drummond vs. Zaza Pachulia. Drummond was a first-time All-Star last year, and Pachulia could do the same thing this year!

Seriously, though, Drummond is the kind of player who can theoretically expose Golden State's poor defensive rebounding. He's second in the league in both rebounding rate and rebounds per game, and he might be the most athletic big man on the planet. Drummond was quiet, however, when these two teams met in Detroit just before Christmas.