Five storylines to watch down stretch of NBA season

While we instinctively call the rest of the NBA season the All-Star break, when in reality it’s around 23-25 games for teams and is more like turning for home and the stretch run of a horse race. This is when the best separate themselves from the pack and the tough questions are answered.

What questions are we watching most closely? Here are five NBA storylines to watch over the final couple of months of the season.

“I think historically, or at least since I’ve been in the league, right, the team that has kind of clicked in this last stretch, has kind of peaked and played their best of the season going into the playoffs usually is the team that wins it all.”

That was Jayson Tatum, speaking just after he dropped 55 points in an otherwise unwatchable All-Star Game. While his sentiment is not universally true, it was last season when Tatum’s Celtics went 26-6 down the stretch and then carried that momentum over to a Finals run. The stretch run does matter this season, where nobody in the West has separated themselves. Trades are in the books, the buyout market is largely finished, rosters are set — now which ones of these teams come together? And who stays healthy?

Out West, can the Warriors get Stephen Curry back, flip the switch and look like a contender? Can Phoenix get Kevin Durant healthy and have enough time to build championship chemistry? Is Denver — finally with Jamal Murray and Michael Porter Jr. healthy around Nikola Jokić — ready to make good on the promise of that roster? What about the Grizzlies? Can the Clippers fit all their pieces together?

The East is a little clearer, but who is better between Boston and Milwaukee down the stretch? And is Philadelphia ready to make it a big three in the East?

We’ll get a