The Warriors have a chance to do something unprecedented before this season’s playoffs begin. With an almost unfathomable 55-6 record, Golden State can take its place in NBA lore by breaking the 1995/96 Bulls’ record for most wins during the regular season.
A stunning loss to the Lakers on Sunday has placed their run toward history in some jeopardy, but the Warriors have shown the ability to bounce back from their most recent losses. They reeled off 11 consecutive victories after the Pistons blew them out in January, and they collected seven straight wins after a 32-point loss to the Trail Blazers coming out of the All-Star break.
Thus, that 72-10 benchmark still seems attainable, considering the Warriors are invincible at home and pretty close to that on the road. They’ve also been blessed by good health this season. Like any team, they’ve got some minor aches and pains — reigning Most Valuable Player Stephen Curry recently sat out a game with an ankle sprain — but they have all their major pieces available heading into the final 21 games of the season.
The schedule also works in the Warriors’ favor. They begin a stretch of six home games tonight, mostly against teams out of the playoff picture. They also play nine of their last 12 games at home.
Warriors head coach Steve Kerr realizes the record is well within the team’s grasp, but he has other priorities. As Marc J. Spears of The Vertical on Yahoo Sports recently reported, Kerr plans to rest some of his regulars at times during the remainder of the season.
“Resting, that will take precedence,” Kerr told Spears. “We will rest guys if they need it before we will go for any kind of streak or record, that’s for sure.”
While winning back-to-back championships must be the priority for the Warriors, Kerr’s sentiment can’t be good news for the league. A sustained run toward the record would rank as the No. 1 sports story over the next five weeks, even superseding the start of the baseball season and NFL free agency.
Moreover, the Warriors have won so many games by wide margins, their starters haven’t logged a lot of minutes. None of their players is in the top 20 in minutes played and only one, power forward Draymond Green (34.4 per game) cracks the top 30.
Kerr could take another approach, such as limiting the regulars’ minutes even more rather than holding them out of games. It would be a shame if the Warriors fail to break the record because some of their best players were wearing street clothes.
This leads us to our question of the day: Will the Warriors match or surpass the Bulls’ 1995/96 NBA record of 72 regular-season victories?
Please take to the comments section below to share your thoughts and opinions on the subject. We look forward to what you have to say.
I don’t see them getting there. They’ve played with fire in a few overtime wins, and they’re starting to get a little banged up with injuries. I think it would be great for the league if they seriously challenged, but I see them simply having a tough time staying in front of the Spurs, whom they have to play three more times.
They might not get to 73, but I don’t think the Spurs will catch them. Pop will be equally interested in resting his (much) older team.
True. Plus, the loss to the Pacers doesn’t help San Antonio.
I don’t see it happening. They have to go 18-3 to get to 73 wins. 14 of those 21 games are at home.
They play the Spurs 3 times, with 2 games in San Antonio. You know Pop is gonna give his old boys a lot of rest but you’d think the Spurs would walk away with at least one win. They face Memphis, Utah, Portland, Dallas & Minnesota twice. Phoenix, New Orleans, NYK, LAC, Philly, Washington, & Boston once. With playoffs looming it will up the effort levels of many of these teams and that will be enough to keep GS even from tying the 72 win mark.
I wouldn’t underestimate this team. If they’re still in position with eight or 10 games to go, I think they’ll go hard to get the record.
It will all depend on those SA games – sweep all 3 somehow, and I can totally see them only dropping 3 other games to finish the season.
It would be tough to sweep the Spurs, considering they haven’t lost at home, either.