It seems inevitable that the Golden State Warriors will break the NBA’s single-season record for most wins in a season as the rate they’re going. Head coach Steve Kerr could throw a monkey wrench into the whole scenario, though. You should hear what he said about resting players before making any large-sum decisions on the legendary feat.
Speaking on the subject, Kerr made it clear his priority remains the health of his team heading into the playoffs, rather than any shot at making history.
“Resting, that will take precedence,” Kerr said, via Marc J. Spears of Yahoo Sports. “We will rest guys if they need it before we will go for any kind of streak or record, that’s for sure.”
This is the smart move as it pertains to what Golden State’s short-term needs are, and it was smart for Kerr to come right out and tamp down the media firestorm that surrounds the question of “will the Warriors break the record?”
Of course, you know there is a big part of Kerr what would love to break the 72-game record, set by the 1995-96 Chicago Bulls — a team Kerr had a hand in helping to achieve it in the first place. That said, he’s rather have another NBA title, so if he thinks resting his players is going to help him achieve this goal he’ll do it.
However, if you ask one star player on Kerr’s current squad, the Warriors can still break the record even if the head coach does rest his starters down the stretch. Before the All-Star game, shooting guard Klay Thompson came out strong saying it shouldn’t matter if he does.
“We’ll probably rest guys down the stretch,” Thompson said, via ESPN Radio. “But we’re so deep of a team that we should have a chance to win every night.”
God knows, this team is deep enough to win every night. Stephen Curry averages just 33.9 minutes per night because of this — an extremely low number for a league superstar. In fact, there are no players on Golden State’s roster averaging any more than Draymond Green’s 34.5 minutes per game.
And even when Kerr pulls starters out of blowout games after three quarters, the Warriors have been known to continue piling up the points.
So, while Kerr will certainly value health over wins as it pertains to the record, don’t assume for a second this means Golden State won’t still break it. With 22 games left on the schedule, the Warriors are 55-5.
They need to go 18-4 the rest of the way to break the old record. This would seem daunting for any other team in the Association.