At times, especially during their 24-0 start to the season, the Warriors breaking the 1995-1996 Chicago Bulls record for wins in a season (72) seemed like a foregone conclusion. There just wasn’t enough star power and good coaching in the rest of the league to make this team lose 10 games, right? But then there were times, especially during bad losses to the lowly Nuggets, Lakers and Bucks, that the Warriors looked like a team that wouldn’t be able to finish it off. A team destined for greatness but one that had experienced a bit of a derailing.
As of last night, it appears that Stephen Curry, Steve Kerr and company have righted that ship. Last night, the Warriors beat the Spurs in San Antonio to get their 72nd win of the season, tied with those ’95 Bulls for the best in NBA history. In the process, Golden State ended the Spurs’ bid to go undefeated at home for a season, due in large part to a tenacious defense that held San Antonio to under 40% shooting.
Though playing at the Spurs was deemed to be the toughest obstacle of the month on the Warriors’ road to 73 victories, GSW still has one more game to go to be the winningest single-season team ever, and that’s a showdown with the Memphis Grizzlies. The Grizzlies are hurting, and missing their two best players–Marc Gasol and Mike Conley–but are still a crafty playoff team that sport three of the better wing defenders in the league. If Memphis can cause guys like Steph, Klay Thompson and Andre Iguodala some headaches, that 73rd win might be a little more difficult to obtain than many expect it to be.
We’ll find out for sure on Wednesday.