Warriors face decision: push for NBA single-season wins record or rest
OAKLAND – To push, or not to push.
That is now the question for the Golden State Warriors.
Try as coach Steve Kerr might to claim that his team hasn’t been pushing to pass the Chicago Bulls’ 72-10 from the 1995-96 campaign, the obvious truth could be seen and heard after the Warriors’ 112-101 win over the San Antonio Spurs on Thursday at Oracle Arena. In short, Kerr’s players are ignoring the long view here because of the opportunity that lies before them.
With three games left and the Warriors fully capable of downing Memphis (on Saturday at the FedEx Forum), the Spurs on Sunday (at the AT&T) and the Grizzlies in the Oracle Arena finale on Wednesday, it’s clear – from Stephen Curry on down – that the defending champions want to make history before their title defense begins in earnest.
Resting players before the playoffs, which has become a trend in today’s NBA, will likely only happen in small doses. Especially with the Thursday announcement from Spurs coach Gregg Popovich that his team will play its core players on Sunday, when they could come one win away from becoming the first team in league history to have a perfect 41-0 record at home.
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“We’ve got three games left, and obviously we all know what we’re chasing, what’s out there,” said Curry, who had 27 points, nine assists and five rebounds against the Spurs. “To clinch homecourt through the playoffs (as they did against the Spurs) was a goal of ours. And with three games left and 73 (wins) still there, it’s obviously a lot to play for.”
That’s all you need to know right there.
Say what you will about Curry’s understated ways and how they are in such stark contrast to fellow team leader Draymond Green, but the reigning MVP has the loudest voice in the Warriors locker room when it comes to matters such as these. Yet it appears that Curry is in sync with Green on this topic, one that the small forward handled in the wisest of ways before the Warriors faced the Spurs.
On the group text message that has long since become the Warriors’ chosen method of team-wide communication, he made it clear to all of his teammates that no one will be judged if they feel as if they need rest in the season’s final few games. Curry, who has played 12 fewer minutes in this campaign than he did in the 2014-15 regular season, wholeheartedly endorsed Green’s wise way of handling the situation.
“We want to control … the conversation and the attitude of what we’re doing,” Curry explained. “That’s kind of what (Green) was getting at. Don’t let anybody's questions that are being asked, pressure, expectations, outside of our locker room control the temperament of the team. So if guys are fatigued, if something is nagging them or what not, inside that locker room if you need to say what you need to say or have a thought about how we should approach these three games now then say it, (because) this is our journey.
“The goal is to win a championship, and nobody should sacrifice that for anything in this regular season. But if you’re able to play and you feel like you’re able to go out and give it what you’ve got and continue to build momentum into the playoffs, then we’ll do it. I think that’s kind of the majority (of the players).”
As for the coach? Kerr admitted that he’s still not quite sure. There will be more conversations to be had on Friday, when the Warriors travel to Memphis and their surge toward a historic finish continues.
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“I’m inclined to give some guys some rest if they need it,” Kerr said. “(But) I’ve also sort of made a pact with the guys that if they’re not tired, if they’re not banged up, and they want to go for this record or whatever, then … So we’ve got to talk.
“I’m a little uneasy about (not resting players). It’s not that I’m worried about injury. You can get injured in practice. So it’s not so much that I want to rest guys to avoid injury, but we do have a back-to-back here (on Saturday and Sunday). It’ll be our third game in four nights Sunday night. And the good news for us is the guys who actually need rest have had plenty of rest. (Andrew) Bogut, Andre (Iguodala), Shaun Livingston, so the rest of our core, they’re 24-25 (years old). They recover pretty quickly.
“So I’m not sure they actually need a rest physically, but you know maybe a break mentally would do them some good. On the other hand, I’m pretty sure we’re not going to be in this position next year. You can’t keep winning at this level. It’s a very unique situation to be in this position, and our guys are – not all of them – but most of our guys want to do this.”
The likely outcome, it seems, is a Warriors push that might very well knock those legendary Bulls down a notch in the NBA annals.
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