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Warriors Wins Watch: No. 70 clinches West, keeps hope for 73 alive
The Golden State Warriors inspired rare doubt on Tuesday night after suffering an overtime loss to the lottery-bound Minnesota Timberwolves. While no 69-9 team can truly be in crisis, dropping a second home game in three tries in the midst of a string of sub-optimal performances made the Warriors look anything like a team ready to set a new single-season record for wins. Were they tired? Had the pursuit of the 1995-96 Chicago Bulls' record finally gotten to them? Were they better off resting key players for the postseason and dropping the pursuit of 73 victories?
Those questions may still persist for many fans and analysis, but they'll be a lot less prominent following Thursday's 112-101 win over the San Antonio Spurs at Oracle Arena. The Warriors became the second team in NBA history to reach 70 wins by seizing control of the game early, adjusting their tactics from their March loss in San Antonio, and generally looking like a group good enough to hit a milestone only one other team ever has before. It will still be a serious challenge to break the Bulls' record of 72 wins, but it's now much easier to be confident that Golden State can do it.
Thursday's victory also clinched homecourt advantage throughout the playoffs for Golden State, an accomplishment that always seemed likely but was pushed to the final week by San Antonio's own incredible season. It's the first time in franchise history that the Warriors have finished with the NBA's best record in consecutive seasons.
It was apparent early on in the contest that the Warriors would be the aggressors. While the teams combined for just 35 first-quarter points, Golden State played with an openness and fluidity that typifies their best performances. That style reached its apex in the second and third quarters, when the Warriors out-scored the Spurs 32-25 to build a 52-40 halftime lead. They also had the requisite focus to keep San Antonio at bay, with Harrison Barnes knocking down two big three-pointers in the final 50 seconds of the half to bounce back form an 11-2 Spurs run.
Barnes was the x-factor for the Warriors, scoring 21 points on 8-of-13 FG and 3-of-7 3FG with eight rebounds. With most teams focused on stopping Stephen Curry, Klay Thompson, and Draymond Green, a good game for Barnes often means doom. Throw in capable and versatile defense at the other end, and it's easy to see why he's been such a key to Golden State's excellence the past two seasons.
The biggest key to this win, though, was Curry's adjustment to the Spurs efforts to stop him on the perimeter. San Antonio switched and trapped Curry at every opportunity in their March win, but the presumptive MVP made it a point to drive to the hoop instead of attempting pressured threes. The resulting stats were very unlike what we usually see from Curry — he shot seven threes (making three) but went 11-of-19 from the field anyway for a game-high 27 points and nine assists. He was the best player on the floor even if he didn't thrive in his usual way and dominated the third quarter with 15 points and four assists. He's also the biggest reason why the Warriors shot 12-of-25 from beyond the arc.
The Spurs cut the lead to 13 within a few minutes of the fourth, but never got the margin back to single digits and didn't look like serious threats throughout the fourth quarter. The result was not as overwhelming as the January blowout that announced the Warriors as the overwhelming favorite to win this year's title, but there was no question who was in control. The Spurs can take solace in knowing that they were without Boris Diaw, a versatile forward who thrived in last month's victory, but the Warriors' adjustments will cause concern no matter who's on the court.
What's next in the chase for 73 wins?
The question for the Warriors' pursuit of 73 wins is if they consider this victory a return to form or a final statement on their brilliance this regular season. This win was undoubtedly comforting after two losses in three games, but the Warriors have still looked gassed over the last week or two and will need to win both ends of a tough road back-to-back Saturday and Sunday in order to make Wednesday's finale with the Memphis Grizzlies a potential record-breaker. Will they consider the wins record important enough to risk further wear and tear?
Head coach Steve Kerr did not commit to an answer Thursday night, although he did say the team will discuss the issue on Friday. Kerr has allowed his players a great deal of input in their late-season rest, and he won't make unilateral decisions now that the historical stakes are higher than ever.
It's a tough question in part because this weekend looks like such a difficult test. Saturday's game at the Grizzlies should be quite winnable considering the Grizzlies have so few healthy rotation players and play Friday at the Dallas Mavericks in a matchup that has much greater implications for their playoff seeding. Yet Popovich has pledged to rest players Friday in Denver and play his full rotation for Sunday's Warriors rematch in San Antonio, when the Spurs will have several days of rest and be looking to keep their unprecedented undefeated home record alive.
Whatever Kerr and his team decide, reaching 70 wins is not an accomplishment that can be overlooked easily. The Warriors have done something that only one other team has done in history and that few others have even sniffed. If the Warriors do rest one or both games this weekend, it won't be an admission of defeat. It'll just be evidence of their priorities.
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Eric Freeman is a writer for Ball Don't Lie on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at efreeman_ysports@yahoo.com or follow him on Twitter!
