One of the most talked about regular season games in recent NBA history is set to tip off in San Antonio on Saturday night when the Spurs host the defending champion Golden State Warriors.
It will pit the Association’s two best teams against one another in what could very well be a preview of the Western Conference Finals.
With history on the line for both teams, a lot of the talk surrounding the game has not necessarily involved this season.
Instead, as the Warriors players have realized since starting the season with 24 consecutive wins, the primary focus is on their attempt to best the Chicago Bulls NBA record of 72 wins in a single season, a feat accomplished by Michael Jordan and Co. back in 1995-96.
At 62-6 on the year, Golden State must go 11-3 from here on out to etch its name in the history books.
Even then, according to San Antonio Spurs guard Tony Parker, that wouldn’t be enough to compare the Warriors to Jordan’s Bulls:
“I’ll say they’ve been having an unbelievable season. Being in the league for 15 years, it’s tough to try to get 70 wins, with all the back to backs and all the great teams you have in the league. So it’s pretty impressive,” Parker said, via the San Antonio Express-News. “Compare them to the Bulls,” Parker continued. “They won six (titles) in eight years. So you have to give a little bit of time to that (Warriors) team to see how well they’re going to do over 10 years, the longevity. Like us, the Spurs, we won five titles since ’99. That’s how you judge teams.”
Going for back-to-back titles is one thing. Showing the domination we saw from Jordan and the Bulls over a near decade-long stretch is a completely different thing.
But when comparing this year’s version of the Warriors to that Bulls team from two decades ago, Steve Kerr and Co. stand up well. They are two games ahead of the Bulls mark at this point in the 1995-96 season and stand a really good chance of breaking said record.
The primary thing standing in Golden State’s way outside of recent injury issues (both Andre Iguodala and Andrew Bogut sidelined), is that it has three more games against a Spurs team that boasts a 58-10 record.
If Parker has his say, San Antonio will be able to do its part to quiet any comparisons between Jordan’s Bulls and Stephen Curry’s Warriors.