Obsessedsportsnut's Blog

During the midst of the Warriors 24-0 record to start this NBA season, many questioned whether or not the 1995-96 Bulls’ record of 72 wins was in danger. I thought it was foolish to even consider 73 wins, as no other team in NBA history has ever had more than 69 wins, achieved twice by the 1971-72 Lakers and the 1996-97 Bulls.

But as the Warriors continued to pile on the wins, the thought of 73 wins got more and more real. The Warriors need to win 25 of their last 30 games to get to 73 wins. That’s a 83.3% win percentage. With a win tonight, they will be at a 92.3% win percentage.So how realistic is it for the Warriors to reach 73 wins? As I looked at the schedule, it’s not as implausible as I once thought.

Let me explain.

The Warriors’ 17 of the remaining 30 games are at home, where they are 24-0, which also brings me to an interesting side point: no team in history has ever finished the NBA season undefeated at home. The closest any team finished undefeated was the 1985-86 Celtics, who finished with one loss. Many also consider this team to be the greatest team of all time, better than Jordan’s Bulls or the Showtime Lakers.

The Warriors finish the season with three tough home games against the Clippers, Spurs, and Thunder. While they are all three tough opponents, it’s really hard to see the Warriors losing these games at home. The crowd at Oracle is too electric and the Warriors have too much pride to lose on their home court especially with the “only team to go undefeated at home” record in reach.

Assuming the Warriors do go undefeated at home, that means they would only have to go 8-5 on the road to finish the season, including 5 tough games at the Clippers, Thunder, Spurs (2x), and Jazz. What makes the road schedule tougher is that both Spurs games and the Clippers and Jazz games are on the 2nd night of back-to-back games.

Obviously, the health of the Warriors is paramount in determining whether or not the Warriors get the record. Currently, Festus Ezili, an important backup to Andrew Bogut, is out for 6 weeks. Warriors can’t afford any other injuries to any other key members of the rotation or bench.

But even aside from the health of the Warriors, a big unknown is how Steve Kerr and the coaching staff will balance resting Steph, Klay, Bogut, Igoudala, and Green down the stretch and going for the record. Kerr is a Greg Popovich disciple and like Popovich, won’t hesitate to rest key players, especially on the front or back end of back-to-back games. To Kerr, the record is a nice goal to achieve, but it won’t matter at all if the team is tired chasing the record come playoff time and don’t end up winning the championship.

The post All-Star break run the playoffs will be fascinating to watch as we get to witness a pursuit of greatness. Will the Warriors get the 73 win record while going undefeated at home along the way? 3 months ago I would have said no, but now, I think it’s inevitable. This team is way too good…way too special.

Once the playoffs start, we get to ask ourselves another question. The 2001-02 Lakers won the NBA title while only losing once in the ENTIRE playoffs. Will the Warriors break their record and sweep all four rounds on route to winning the NBA title?

I say it’s impossible, but I’ve been wrong before.