There’s an old adage in the NBA that the season doesn’t begin until Christmas.

No team took it more to heart than the Golden State Warriors.

The Warriors started the season — the actual season, which starts in October — winning only 15 of 33 games, an underwhelming beginning following the team’s fourth title this past June.

But then Christmas, and a shift for the Warriors.

After weeks of waining energy and focus, the Warriors locked in and blew out an outstanding Memphis Grizzlies team at home, without Steph Curry and Andrew Wiggins.

And then the Warriors carried that same energy and focus into back-to-back wins over the Hornets and the Jazz.

It’s only the Warriors’ second three-game winning streak of the season, but this one feels like it has legs.

Why? Because the Baby Dubs — the second timeline, if you will — are showing that they know how to win the Warriors’ way.

That changes everything for this Warriors team.

With Curry out of the lineup, the Warriors have leaned heavily on Klay Thompson and Draymond Green, but success for the Warriors starts with Jordan Poole and Jonathan Kuminga.

Leaning on Poole on offense with Curry sidelined had been a mixed bag, as Poole’s play was far too mercurial, especially facing defenses playing Curry-like attention to him.

And while running high pick-and-roll with Poole playing with the ball in his hands was an option for the Warriors, Golden State coach Steve Kerr opted to play Poole off the ball — and away from the defensive attention.

With Donte DiVincenzo and Ty Jerome running point over the last two games, in particular, Poole has committed to filling the Curry role, in earnest.

That means running, running, and more running.

Curry’s off-ball work ethic is legendary and makes the Warriors’ offense work. Few players in the league cover more distance than him per game — 1.44 miles per game.

But against the Hornets and the Jazz, Poole has covered 1.53 miles per game on offense. That’s a 26 percent increase on his average before Christmas.

Poole working hard off the ball breaks down the connective tissue of a defense. Add in his outstanding dribble penetration and increased free-throw rate, and the Warriors have a reasonable facsimile of Curry. It also gives the Warriors the ability to run the systems, built around Curry, that best suit the team’s other players.

Poole is now fully grasping a fundamental but difficult truth of winning basketball: you get what you give.

By sacrificing himself for the benefit of his team, he is putting up great offensive numbers, and the Warriors are winning behind him.

The same truth has clearly been grasped by Kuminga as well.

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The Warriors forward has slid in and out of the team’s rotation, but is a required member of it now with Wiggins sidelined.

What the Warriors need from Kuminga is point-of-attack defense. It’s neither an easy nor fun job, but it’s a necessary one for a team that has been seriously lacking in perimeter defense.

In recent games, Kuminga looks fully committed to that role. He’s thinking defense first — and because you get what you give, he’s finding himself in strong offensive positions, too.

Kuminga’s current role is not dissimilar to what Wiggins experienced in his first weeks playing with Curry, and what Gary Payton II experienced last year. The Warriors want to turn defense into offense — their play on the defensive end bleeds to the other end of the court, whether they like it or not. By tasking Wiggins and Payton II with top defensive jobs, they found a role on the team and great transition offense opportunities to showcase their athleticism.

But in a half-court offense, Wiggins, Payton II, and now Kuminga were charged with working the baseline — shooting corner 3s, cutting when open, dunk when possible.

Wiggins’ game expanded. Kuminga’s might, too.

But right now, this role is working for him and the Warriors. Less is more in that job, and Kuminga is figuring that out in real-time.

The young duo’s play has been a huge part of the Warriors coming through in two clutch situations over the last two games. Kuminga decided the win over the Hornets with great defense; Poole the win over the Jazz with his outstanding control of the Warriors’ offense.

The Warriors were 5-10 in games that had a five-point or fewer margin with fewer than five minutes remaining before the back-to-back wins, in large part because it’s hard to trust young players to come through in those situations.

Now they are. If it continues, the Warriors won’t need to worry about adding veterans to the mix before the trade deadline — the organization can maintain its dream of everlasting wins, provided by the team’s veterans and young guns.

Poole and Kuminga will still make mistakes — there will still be out-of-control moments for the 23- and 20-year-olds.

But the last two games are clear and necessary signs of progress.

The duo is building legitimate trust with Warriors coaches and teammates through the simplification of their games. It’s winning basketball, even without Curry and Wiggins.

So you can imagine the level of play the Warriors can reach with those two back in the fold.

Maybe the NBA season doesn’t start until Christmas.

Because with Poole and Kuminga playing like reliable pros, the best part of the Dubs’ 2022-23 campaign is just getting started.