Golden State Seen as Small Favourite To Reach Historic Mark

Published on February 20th, 2016 5:08 pm EST
According to FiveThirtyEight.com, the Golden State Warriors currently have a 54% chance of reaching 73 wins this season and besting the record that is currently held by Michael Jordan and the '96 Chicago Bulls.

Heading into last night's game against the Portland Trailblazers, the Golden State Warriors were sitting at 48-4 and seemingly on pace to break the mark of 72-10 that was set by the Bulls in 1996.

According to FiveThirtyEight.com, Golden State had a slightly better than 50% chance of breaking the record prior to last night's game, which many thought would never be broken in this age of salary caps and talent parity. According to the site, the Warriors have a 69.8% chance of tying the 72-10 mark, and a 54% chance of breaking it.

The Golden State Warriors have been remarkably consistent this season, despite the fact that they have dealt with a back injury to their head coach, Steve Kerr. The Warriors, led by Steph Curry, continued to win without their head coach calling the plays. The rest of the NBA has remained thoroughly flummoxed by the Warriors and their "small ball" style.

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Detractors of the Golden State Warriors argue that the rest of their schedule this season is quite difficult and it will be tough to lose just five times over their remaining games. The Warriors have a number of tilts left with very tough teams such as the San Antonio Spurs and Oklahoma City Thunder, just to name a few.

In addition, fatigue is likely to become a very real factor as well, as the Golden State Warriors went the distance last season to win the NBA title. The club has played a tremendous amount of games over the past couple of seasons, and you would have to think that they might be in danger of breaking down heading into the last quarter of this season.

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The overall consensus seems to be that the Warriors are still a long shot to break the 72-10 mark, though they seem to be dead set on breaking the record.

Source: Fivethirtyeight.com - The Warriors' Odds of Going 73-9

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