Warriors Wins Watch: No. 70 clinches West, keeps hope for 73 alive
The Golden State Warriors inspired rare doubt on Tuesday night after dropping 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.
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Eric Freeman is a writer for Ball Don’t Lie on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at [email protected] or follow him on Twitter!
