Steward: Finding regular season motivation has become a struggle for Warriors, fans

The Warriors passed the quarter pole of the NBA regular season Monday night, and in honor of reaching that checkpoint, let’s pause for a test. Could you please raise your hand if this season is moving fast enough for you so far?

What? Really? Nobody? Not even you guys in the uniforms? Join our growing club.

Hey, none of us can be blamed. While we already may be 21 games into this 2017-18 season, the stultifying reality is we still have 61 more of these things to get through before we get to the really good stuff starting in mid-April.

Mid-April! Just think, that’s so far away, some of you will have seen “Star Wars: The Last Jedi” a half-dozen times by then. We’ll know who won the Oscars. We’ll know if the Giants won Giancarlo Stanton. We’ll even know who won the halfpipe in the Winter Olympics.

In short, we’ve got a long NBA row to hoe. We can be politically correct and say that’s all right, we do it every year. But let’s just admit it. For some strange reason, this Warriors season has not exactly been a nonstop thrill ride. In fact, it’s been a grind bordering on a slog, and significantly fewer folks seem to be feeling that unfettered, exhilarating joy of the last three years. These games are starting to feel like … ugh … work!

Golden State is a comfortable 15-6 but hasn’t really delivered that “wow” performance through the first fourth of the season. The three biggest marquee challenges so far – Houston, Boston and Oklahoma City – all ended in losses. Throw in that Detroit home defeat, too, another stinker.

Then, Monday night, the Warriors lost to the Sacramento Kings on a home court that should have been rechristened Snore-acle Arena, what with at least 1,000 vacant seats in the lower bowl probably attributable to the prevailing apathy. Sure, the Warriors were playing without Kevin Durant and Stephen Curry. Sure, the Kings played pretty great for the Kings. But the Warriors also had a 10-point second half lead they let get away, a lead that was still four with less than two minutes to go.

Even without Durant and Curry, no way they should have let this game slip through their fingers. But they couldn’t finish. Again. They couldn’t stop Sacramento defensively, and they forced up poor, almost lazy shots at the offensive end.

Coach Steve Kerr said his team lacked defensive energy. On offense, Draymond Green said, everybody just stood around when Klay Thompson got the ball, and with no one moving, Thompson resorted to chucking up prayers that didn’t come close to being answered.

It ultimately was another night of not nearly enough fun, even with a guy coming out of the stands during a timeout and winning everybody a free haircut. More crisply and efficiently played games would be a far better reward. Alas, the Warriors have had too many tilts – for them, anyway — with too many turnovers, too many defensive lapses, too many silly fouls, and just generally, too many mental hiccups.

As much as critics demand that those trends change, they might not for awhile, and it’ll be tough to get too haughty and harsh about it. We’re all fighting complacency and looking reasons to be motivated by this Warriors regular season — players, coaches, fans, even the media. They’ve done it all, you’ve seen it all, we’ve written it all. Crafting a stimulating encore has become a very daunting chore.

Even as late as last year, we had no problem waiting for the playoffs with the Warriors. There was the newness of Durant, for one thing. Plus, we’ve always enjoyed the ride. They’ve seemed to enjoy it, too, as they were piling up win totals of 67, 73 and 67 the past three years.

But now, it’s as if everybody just wants to skip the main meal and go straight to the dessert. At least that’s the vibe. The Warriors have spoiled us so rotten, the regular season just doesn’t seem to mean a whole lot anymore.

And in all honesty, it really doesn’t. Take the Pacific Division race. It’s basically over, even with 61 games to go. In a grouping with the Kings, the Clippers, the Lakers and the Phoenix Suns, the Warriors already have a six-game lead. Sheesh, who’s going to catch them?

So acknowledging they are going to win the division by a light year, the Warriors are guaranteed one of the top three seeds in the Western Conference now. And since it’s highly unlikely whichever team wins the Northwest Division is going to have more victories than Golden State, the Warriors almost certainly will be the first or second seed in the West.

So what’s the goal, and where’s the motivation? Are we supposed to be pulling our hair out that the Warriors are only on pace for 58 wins at this point? No. Only two things matter: 1) Getting to the playoffs with the core of stars – Durant, Green, Curry and Thompson, plus Andre Iguodala – healthy and adequately rested, and 2) keeping the remainder of the bench as happy and focused as possible with such a large, versatile cast of contributors.

Luck will factor into the first one. As for the second one, it’ll take much savvy and skill from Kerr, because there just aren’t enough minutes for this immensely deep roster. For example, everybody wants to see a lot more of rookie Jordan Bell, who turned in an electric, energizer-bunny six-minute stint late in the first half against the Kings yet inexplicably didn’t play in the second half. Kerr didn’t really offer a strong reason why, then finally confessed Bell probably should be getting more time.

But at whose expense? More minutes for Bell probably means even less for JaVale McGee or Kevon Looney. In place of Curry, Patrick McCaw showed he’d probably be worthy of 15-20 minutes off the bench for most teams. But he’ll be lucky to get 10 with the Warriors’ depth, and he and Nick Young will be in a time tug-of-war all year.

The good news is most people believe the Warriors will pull everything together by March, start playing sharp, dynamic, thrilling basketball and Kerr will get his rotations firmly set and consistently effective once the playoffs are in sight. Those people are probably right.

The pinched-underwear problem is, the playoffs aren’t visible yet and we’re stuck in this ragged regular season waiting game, barely beginning the second quarter. Gad, how will we pampered, petulant brats ever make it to halftime, let alone the full 82? Even the Warriors appear to be groping for those answers at the moment.

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