There is no five-alarm fire surrounding the Warriors, but there are enough matches gathering that their upcoming five-game homestand, even in the first six weeks of the NBA season, can be a tipping point.

After playing 12 of 17 games on the road, the Warriors return to Chase Center on Friday to face the Portland Trail Blazers, whose ninth-place position in the Western Conference has them only one slot beneath eighth-place Golden State. Then come the 10th-place Utah Jazz, the third-place Houston Rockets, the last-place New Orleans Pelicans and the first-place Oklahoma City Thunder.

Houston and OKC present real challenges, but a loss to any of the other three would signal a troubling setback for the Warriors.

With perplexing chatter emanating from their semi-successful six-game road trip

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