73 wins: Warriors' chase for immortality takes hit after Celtics loss
After somehow escaping a back-to-back in Salt Lake City with an overtime victory, it looked as if the Golden State Warriors were in the clear.
The Warriors would only need to go 5-2 over the final two weeks to get the record.
However, after suffering a rare home loss at the hands of the Boston Celtics on Friday, the chase for 73 wins to surpass the 1995-96 Chicago Bulls got exponentially tougher.
Save for a date with the Minnesota Timberwolves (who played them down to the wire in their last meeting), five of the Warriors' last six games are against playoff opponents.
| Date | Opponent |
|---|---|
| 4/3/2016 | POR |
| 4/5/2016 | MIN |
| 4/7/2016 | SAS |
| 4/9/2016 | @MEM |
| 4/10/2016 | @SAS |
| 4/13/2016 | MEM |
The opponents
The toughest game remaining, by far, is the trip to San Antonio, where they haven't won in 33-straight games dating back to before Tim Duncan entered the league. Gregg Popovich's crew hasn't dropped a home game all season, and the Warriors would be coming in on the second night of a back-to-back.
Granted, Popovich might troll the league and rest his starters (he's done it before), but this is the same coach who opted to double-team Paul George in this year's All-Star Game to preserve Wilt Chamberlain's scoring record. Poking a finger in the eye of his former disciple Steve Kerr could prove to be a useful exercise, if only to maintain a psychological edge that the Warriors can't win at the AT&T Center.
Golden State's home date with the Spurs won't be much easier.
Past that, wins against the Memphis Grizzlies and Portland Trail Blazers won't come easy. Both teams are playing for playoff positioning, so neither team is likely to yield the way.
The Trail Blazers beat the Warriors once this season thanks to an incredible 51-point outing by Damian Lillard, and the Oakland native always gets up to play before his hometown team. As for the Grizzlies, an unthinkable rash of injuries have sent them into a spiral, but they won't be afraid to get physical and make life difficult for the Warriors.
Balancing rest
Attrition might be the toughest hurdle in the chase for 73 wins.
The Warriors are already without Andre Iguodala and Festus Ezeli (although they're both close to returning), and Andrew Bogut picked up a rib injury in Friday's loss.
Kerr has shown tremendous patience in allowing for players to take ample time to recover from injuries, but he also said he wouldn't rest his players down the stretch if they're still in the hunt for history.
The continued chase keeps the pressure on Curry and Green, among others, to keep logging heavy minutes. Curry and Green haven't ducked crunch time duties in the Warriors' last nine games. Not having Iguodala has corrupted the bench's ability to maintain leads, and the Warriors' All-Stars keep having to re-enter the game to bail them out.
Granted, no Warrior logged more than 36 minutes per game in March because Kerr has been diligent in minute management, but at a time when most other contenders are winding down before the postseason, the Warriors are still fighting.