Green admits chase for 73 wins has distracted Warriors
Golden State Warriors power forward Draymond Green admitted Tuesday night that his team may have become distracted by the chase for a new NBA single-season record for victories over the past few months, then retracted his comments.
Asked if the team had become caught up in the hype of setting a new mark with 73 regular-season wins, Green replied, "Honestly? Yes."
Green then clarified, according to ESPN's Ethan Sherwood Strauss, "I wouldn't necessarily say caught up in the hype."
Tuesday's stunning home loss to the Minnesota Timberwolves puts the Warriors in the position of needing to win their last four games in order to set the new record. Those final four come against two teams - the San Antonio Spurs and the Memphis Grizzlies.
Green also stressed that at this point, the Warriors would now rather focus on the games that matter the most - in the playoffs.
"It's human nature to where (we are) kind of ready for the regular season to end," Green said. "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."
Coach Steve Kerr said last month that resting key players ahead of the postseason would take precedence over chasing records. It is still conceivable - although highly unlikely - that the Warriors could drop to the No. 2 seed in the Western Conference if they stumbled and the Spurs won out.
| Team | W-L | Games remaining |
|---|---|---|
| Warriors | 69-9 | 4 |
| Spurs | 65-12 | 5 |
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Tuesday's loss to the youthful Wolves was especially jarring, considering it was the team's second loss in three games - both coming at home. The Boston Celtics ended the Warriors' 54-game regular-season home winning streak on Friday.
"Now, saying that, we got to be a better enough ballclub to continue to try to get better with these games and try and go into the playoffs the right way and not stumble in the playoffs," Green added. "We got to try to finish out this regular season strong."