Does chasing 73 even matter for the Warriors at this point?

Many observers figured the Golden State Warriors would face a challenge in setting a new regular-season NBA record for wins in 2015-16.

And after surprising home losses to the Boston Celtics and Minnesota Timberwolves, the Warriors must win their final four games - two apiece against the San Antonio Spurs and Memphis Grizzlies - to top the 1995-96 Chicago Bulls' mark.

The question now is, does it even matter?

All season long, the Warriors have appeared split on the importance of breaking the all-time record of 72 wins. Earlier in the campaign, Stephen Curry talked openly about wanting to win 73 games, so long as it didn't come at the expense of a second straight NBA title.

Meanwhile, Steve Kerr, who played on that '96 Bulls team, has understandably taken the cautious approach one would expect from a head coach. "Resting, that will take precedence," Kerr said last month. "We will rest guys if they need it before we will go for any kind of streak or record, that's for sure."

And this from ESPN's Ethan Sherwood Strauss, who covers the team on a daily basis:

Following Tuesday's loss to the Timberwolves - a defeat that can only be described as stunning given it came at home to a youthful 25-win squad - Draymond Green conceded that perhaps the Warriors shouldn't worry about 73 wins any longer.

"It's human nature to where (we are) kind of ready for the regular season to end," Green told reporters. "Talking 82 games, we get bored with that after a while. And that's no excuse, just, I'm always give it to y'all real, and that's about as real as I can be. It's kind of at a point now where you're ready for the regular season to be over."

However, the unusual sight of the Warriors struggling in late-game situations has Kerr suggesting that giving his starters full minutes in the last four games will hopefully serve as an opportunity to get back on track.

"I think it's more worth it to get on the right track and get playing well," Kerr said, according to The Vertical's Michael Lee. "If we get playing well, all that stuff will take care of itself. But, um, we're not playing well. And that's more worth doing than anything. Get playing well and get everyone on the same page."

Showdown-style contests against the Spurs are sure to be enhanced with the assumption that Gregg Popovich will not rest his stars either, but the almost jarring fact that the Warriors are struggling at this time of year is sure to raise questions - legitimate or not - going into the playoffs.

"I think they want the record," Kerr said of his players on Saturday, according to Strauss. "But I think what they probably realize is maybe all the talk and all the focus on the record has gotten us away from the process of who we are."

Yet Kerr also has the benefit of experience from 20 years ago, when chasing the league's then-record of 70 wins was prescient with the Bulls all season long.

"We lost two home games in the last week, 10 days of the season, both by a basket or one point," Kerr said of the '96 Bulls. "We were, I think, I want to say 37-0 or something that season at home, and we lost two of our last four."

The Bulls did drop two of their four home games by one point to the Charlotte Hornets and Indiana Pacers, respectively.

Kerr also knows that the regular-season record means nothing without the Larry O'Brien Trophy.

"I think it'd be cool, but we all know what our focus is. We want to win a championship," Kerr said. "The championship goes up on the wall, and records are broken. People break records. Championships last forever."

It's worth noting that the '96 Bulls also remain the only team in the four major North American professional team sports to actually win a championship after setting the most recent league record for regular-season victories. Respective franchises in the NFL, MLB, and NHL haven't fared as well.

Prior to the Bulls, the NBA record belonged to the 1971-72 Los Angeles Lakers, who won a title after a 69-13 regular season (a record the 1996-97 Bulls matched in repeating as champs).