Chasing 73 Becoming A Burden For Warriors

The Golden State Warriors are in danger of hurting their long term goal, an NBA Championship. As of late, it has become very evident that the Warriors are doing everything they can in order to overcome the 95-96 Chicago Bulls record of 72 wins in a single season. The Warriors have lost the last 2 out of 3 games at home, and it’s beginning to show cracks in their physical and mental state and situation.
NBA fans don’t understand how taxing it is to get the absolute best out of the opposition every single night, not just physically, but mentally also. Preparing every single game with colossal meaning takes its toll on athletes, and an already agonisingly long NBA season, seems a lot longer than it normally does.
The Warriors have lost the past 2 out of 3 games at home after previously winning the previous 54, but what’s even more alarming, is how they’ve also looked in their wins. After keeping a close eye on their overtime victory in Utah, the Warriors definitely looked not just tired, but absolutely exhausted. Uncharacteristic things on the basketball court started happening during that outing. Some Warriors players were far too fatigued to fight over screens and the defensive side of the ball in general was affected because the Warriors had nothing left in the tank to give on both ends.

This brings to me to the point of the Warriors actually doing damage to their long term goals. It’s all well and good to achieve this record, but it means nothing if the Warriors are unable to come away from this season with another NBA Championship. In a lot of ways, the Warriors are already playing a mini playoffs before the long journey has even begun. Keep in mind, the Warriors are likely to face 2 of the 3 Western Conference powerhouses of the San Antonio Spurs, Oklahoma City Thunder and Los Angeles Clippers throughout this post season.

Steve Kerr, the coaching staff and more importantly the players must put their hands up and decide how they want this season to play out. Do they rest players to keep them fresh for the playoffs? Or do they throw everything at this record, no matter the cost or strain it’s putting on their roster?
Steve Kerr should know better than anyone what to do in this situation as he was a part of that Chicago Bulls team, but in my opinion, he hasn’t handled this situation well at all. The Warriors players should not be in this state as they enter the biggest time of their season. A bigger prize is on hand, and it’s important they are both physically and mentally ready for the gruelling challenge of the Western Conference.
The biggest problem the Warriors face is their last 4 games are against opponents that still have something to play for. They play the Memphis Grizzlies twice, who are still fighting to stay in the playoffs with a depleted squad, and the San Antonio Spurs, who crazy enough, could still capture the number 1 overall seed in the West. The only blessing for the Warriors will be if Gregg Popovich decides to rest his starers in preparation for the post season.

Unlike most teams, the end of the regular season is anything but routine Gongfu Tea Cup
the Warriors. It will be interesting to see how it plays out and how they play it out. At the end of the day they must tread carefully and be very aware that chasing this record could also significantly hinder their title hopes.