After the best three-year stretch of regular season play in NBA history, the Golden State Warriors can be forgiven for slacking off during this regular season. The team has continued a trend of playing poorly in the first halves of games, only to turn it on in the second half. Even as the other teams tried to match them, the Warriors have finished each of the past three regular seasons well ahead of their competition.

This year, however, their stranglehold on the top of the regular season standings has receded. The Houston Rockets managed to overtake the Warriors for the first seed in the Western Conference prior to the All-Star break; this is by far the latest point in any Warriors season under Steve Kerr that the Warriors have not held the top spot. With the playoffs rapidly approaching, Golden State's dominance over the rest of the NBA might be at its shakiest moment since the end of Game 7 of the 2016 NBA Finals.

Time to Panic?

The Golden State Warriors have not had much cause for concern over the past few regular seasons. They have dominated the regular season to a similar degree to their complete playoff dominance last season. However, this season there appears to be more cause for concern than at any point since Mark Jackson lost his job. Golden State falling a half-game behind the Houston Rockets might not seem like a big deal, but there are some other factors that might make the shift in the standings an issue for the Warriors.

The biggest reason that the Warriors might be afraid is the Houston Rockets. The Rockets not only claimed the top spot in the Western Conference prior to the All-Star break but also beat the Warriors two out of three times. Houston is an astonishing 28-1 when James Harden, Chris Paul, and Clint Capela share the floor. The Rockets have also bolstered their formidable offense with a stout defense by adding Luc Mbah a Moute and P.J. Tucker in addition to the lateral move (defensively) of swapping Patrick Beverley for Chris Paul. The Warriors might have swept through the West last season. However, their 12-0 record was marred by Kawhi Leonard's injury. Furthermore, they did not have to face an opponent like this year's Rockets at any point during their run to the 2017 title.

...Maybe not

The Golden State Warriors might have lost the top spot in the Western Conference to the Houston Rockets. The Rockets might be a more formidable threat to the Warriors than anything they have faced besides the combination of LeBron James and Draymond Green's losing his cool at the worst possible time. However, those reasons alone are nowhere near enough to put the Warriors' status as clear title favorites in jeopardy.

The Warriors might not hold the top spot in the West, but they are only a half-game behind the Rockets. The Warriors' Net Rating of 10.0 is still the best mark in the league, and the difference between them and the second-place Rockets is almost three times as large as the difference between #2 Houston and #3 Toronto.

The Golden State Warriors are clearly on autopilot during this regular season. That was pretty clear even before Steve Kerr let some of his players hold the coaching clipboard in Phoenix, and it was certainly quite clear after that. Despite not going even close to full throttle for most of the regular season, the Warriors have only just fallen from their pedestal at the top of the league standings. Even if the Warriors do not manage to claim the first seed in the Western Conference, they should still be the obvious title favorites once they start going full tilt in the postseason.