The Golden State Warriors can see the metaphoric light at the end of the tunnel that is the All-Star break, but they have a few more days to get through first. The Warriors completed a short road trip against the Phoenix Suns and the Los Angeles Lakers on Saturday night, going 1-1 in the absence of Steph Curry.

It was a valiant effort on both nights as pure shotmaking spelled the difference between a win in Phoenix and a loss in Los Angeles, but the Warriors are still feeling positive heading into home games against the Grizzlies and Spurs before the long break.

After the loss to the Lakers, Steve Kerr reflected on the Warriors' two-game road trip and discussed how things went down. 

"We battled. Both games, we fought hard. Obviously, we made a lot of shots against Phoenix, which was the difference. We just couldn't get shots to go down today. We won the turnover battle, the offensive boards we gave ourselves a lot of opportunities. Just couldn't generate enough offense, but I love the effort and the energy and the fight and we'll keep plugging away."

Kerr also talked about how he views the Warriors with just two games left before a much-needed reprieve at the upcoming All-Star break.

"The break will be coming at a good time, but we've got two games and we've got to lock in and go get that Memphis game on Monday. We'll be able to regroup after break, hopefully get Steph and Kristaps playing right after the break. We're in a pretty good spot if we can get healthy and start to generate a little better offensive rhythm."

Curry and Porzingis are expected to be out for the remaining two games, but with the elongated break providing them rest and rehab, the Warriors could look very different after the festivities.

Currently, the Warriors sit as the 8th seed in the Western Conference standings. At 28-25 following the loss to the Lakers, they find themselves 3 games behind the 7th-seed Suns for the 7th-seed, 4 games behind the 6th-seed Timberwolves, 5 games behind the 4th and 5th-seed Rockets and Lakers, and 6 games behind the 3rd-seed Nuggets.

With about 30 games across the NBA, a 6-game lead is large, but nowhere near insurmountable if the Warriors can make a big run or if any of the teams above them begin to slip, whether due to an unforeseen injury or just plain underperformance.

The good thing is that the Warriors have really made headway on separating from the bottom of the Western Conference, and will likely finish no lower than 8th. They're three games ahead of the Trail Blazers and Clippers, but considering the Clippers just traded two of their top three players — James Harden and Ivica Zubac — the threat they posed has greatly diminished. Additionally, the next out after the Clippers is the Grizzlies, who also shipped off one of their stars, Jaren Jackson Jr., leaving the runway pretty clear for the Warriors to hold steady as a top-8 seed, even if they can't climb any higher.

Of course, being a 7 or 8-seed would still require a win in the play-in tournament, which always makes things nerve-racking, and the reward would be a series against either the Thunder or the Spurs, but it would give the Warriors a chance nonetheless.