Golden State Warriors Have No Room For Error in Drive for 73 Wins
Published on April 6th, 2016 3:05 pm ESTWhat a difference a week makes.
Last week, the Golden State Warriors sat with a record of 68-7 following a win over Utah in overtime. At that point, all the Warriors had to do was close out the season with a 5-2 record and they would make history by becoming the first team to ever win 73 games in a single season.
With a slate of games at home, the Warriors looked to be in a pretty solid position to pull off the seemingly improbable feat and make history. After a full season with basically no slip-ups, the Warriors looked poised to rewrite the history books.
Things have gone off the rails this week, however, as the Warriors have lost two games at home. Heading into this week, the Warriors had won more than 50 straight games at home, though two home losses against the Celtics and Timberwolves have put a major dent in the team's chances to make history. Now, with four games remaining in the schedule, Golden State has no more room for error.
In fact, to make things even more difficult, two of the Warriors' remaining four games are against the San Antonio Spurs, which is a team that has also enjoyed a phenomenal season as well. Though the Spurs will likely be resting some players for one or both of the games, they would also like to be the team to thwart the Warriors in their attempt to make history.
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As of this moment, the Golden State Warriors currently have a 56% chance of winning 72 games and a 14% chance of winning 73 games. This is down dramatically from a week ago, when the Warriors were being given an 80% chance of breaking the Bulls' long-standing all-time record for wins in a season.
The truth of the matter is that the Warriors have played a tremendous amount of high level basketball over the past year and a half, and the grind may finally be starting to get to them. After winning the NBA title last year, the Warriors have had targets on their backs all year as they have attempted to make history. In addition, the Warriors are also obviously concerned with winning a second NBA title.
It will be interesting to see how hard the Warriors play over the next four games. Will they try their best to break the record or will they instead choose to rest some of their top players ahead of a projected long playoff run? After all, the Warriors will likely have to square off against the San Antonio Spurs this post-season, and it would certainly not do them any favours if they exhausted themselves trying to win 73 games.
