The Golden State Warriors staved off a season-opening loss during ring night, but still presented plenty of doubts heading into the start of the regular season after winning only one of their five preseason games. The Dubs managed to keep a short-handed Oklahoma City Thunder team at bay with a 108-100 win and took the Utah Jazz to a nerve-wracking, but gloriously entertaining 124-123 last-second win, ultimately falling to the Denver Nuggets on Sunday to close out the week.

However their dominance against the Phoenix Suns suggests the Warriors might not be as far from their midseason form, as they were in the early get go during the 2017-18 season.

Here are some early observations based on the four-game sample from this excitement-filled 2018-19 season.

Draymond Green, Stephen Curry, Warriors

Stephen Curry in top-notch form:

Curry had a blistering preseason and has managed to carry that into the regular season, putting up incredibly steady numbers with 32, 31, 30, and 29-point performances in his first four regular season tilts. Furthermore, Curry has shown no signs of his late-season injury from earlier in the year and has shown so by playing 37 or more minutes in the first three games of this campaign, logging only 30 on Monday after getting the superstars' rest having drummed the Suns by 26 to start the fourth quarter.

The 30-year-old has been the steady Eddie of this roster, drilling five or more 3-pointers in each of the games, and dishing out eight or more dimes in three of the four games.

Curry's ball-handling is in tip-top form, already claiming a few ankles this early into the NBA season — just ask Devin Booker, who was put on skates last night.

The Center of attention:

Damian Jones has been everything head coach Steve Kerr and the rest of the coaching staff has hoped for him to be — a presence on the block and a willing finisher down low. It wasn't any more evident than what he did on Monday, setting yet another career-high with 13 points on a perfect 5-of-5 night from the floor.

Jones put up nine points, four rebounds and a block in six minutes of play before being given his first rest of the game. His minutes will be capped around 20-some a game as he gears into shape for the arduous run of an NBA game and adapts to the verticality principles, having fouled three or more times in all four games.

Kevon Looney is locked as Jones' primary replacement, with Jordan Bell surprisingly winding up to be the odd man out of the rotation, still trigger-shy on mid-range opportunities and struggling to keep himself from fouling rim-attacking players.

Bearded Klay could use a good-luck shave:

Klay Thompson's struggles come as a mind-boggling misfortune after a sparkling preseason. Somehow the sharpshooting sniper has made only 3-of-22 from downtown, a slump that resembled Stephen Curry's early-series woes against the Houston Rockets, going 2-of-13 from deep in the first two games.

Thompson will inevitably regain his feel for the long ball at some point, but a lot of those misses have been caused by his desire to prove what he can do off the dribble, given his offseason emphasis in improving some of his weaknesses.

The 28-year-old is coming off a career-best in field goal efficiency, shooting 48.8 percent from the field and 44 percent from beyond the arc in 2017-18, only to come into this season shooting 37.3 percent from the field and 13.6 percent from deep.

This is no time to sound the alarm yet, but it will be alarming if his shot selection continues to be experimental rather than efficient down the road.

A bench the Warriors could get used to:

The Warriors bench has been outscored in every game thus far, but it has highlighted a different player in every game, bringing signs of reliability early on. Make no mistake, this is no All-Star bench like the one in 2014-15 and 2015-16, but it gets the job done.

Jonas Jerebko and Kevon Looney stand as the two best bench cogs thus far, having posted two double-digit scoring nights each with plenty to be excited about.

During his last three games, Jerebko has 28 points, 13 rebounds, four assists and two steals in 56 combined minutes, making him a very useful presence as a versatile player that can play as a stretch-four. There are still questions about his suspect hands, but those should go away as he gets more run within the second unit.

Also, he gets bonus points for this game-winning tip — not because the game was important, but because it gives the Warriors a sprinkle of on-court camaraderie that is otherwise impossible to replicate without moments like this.

Looney has gotten the most steady playing time of any bench player and rewarded his head coach with ultimate efficiency. His numbers are by no means glamorous, but he has scored 19 points on 8-of-9 from the field in his last three games, sprinkling some rebounds, steals, and blocks along with solid screens for other shooters.

Trust The Cousins:

DeMarcus Cousins has reportedly shown enough progress to gear up his recovery, soon to partake in 5-on-0 drills and joining the young players in brief scrimmage scenarios.

“If we scrimmage, which is very rare, it’s usually with the young guys that don’t play a lot,” Kerr said, according to Mark Medina of the San Jose Mercury News. “He’ll probably join those scrimmages.”

The hope is to get Cousins able to play by late December or early January, giving the team ample time to mesh with its new All-Star cog and have a well-adjusted line of chemistry by the time the playoffs roll around.

Cousins has been around the team in every game and been active on the court with his trainer, hoping he can bounce back from a devastating Achilles injury that ended his best season to date last February. This could be the first season Boogie sees the floor during the postseason, as he was forced to live vicariously, cheering on the New Orleans Pelicans from the bench during their short-lived playoff run.

Let the countdown begin before the big man ruins the league.

Warriors

The Warriors have seen their share of close games early on, but have also managed to put teams away when they must, as they've done with the Suns. Golden State must still make adjustments, primarily to stop the referees from calling off-the-ball fouls on them, which is a point of emphasis from the league. The West is tougher this time around, which makes their loss to the Denver Nuggets a bearable one, given the team's improvement over this summer a new-found sense of confidence.

The Dubs didn't really adjust to the officiating last season until 20 or so games into the regular season, which costed them in terms of technical fouls, which posed an issue later on. If they can outsmart the officials and tone down their unnecessary hacking, it won't be long until they start to see a smoother ride through the regular season.