The Golden State Warriors locked up the Western Conference's No. 1 seed with yesterday's victory over the San Antonio Spurs, becoming just the second team in NBA history to reach 70 regular season victories. Now, head coach Steve Kerr wants to rest his players for the playoffs as the Warriors are just three wins away from setting an NBA record. However, he'll talk it over with his team before making any final decisions.
"We are going to talk about it tomorrow," Kerr said Thursday after Golden State's win. "We've been putting it off for as long as we were able to, which was until we got the 1-seed. Now that we have that, I'm inclined to give some guys some rest if they need it, but I've sort of made a pact with the guys that if they are not banged up and they are not tired and if they want to go for this record or whatever then - so we got to talk."
The 1995-96 Chicago Bulls hold the record for most regular season wins with 72 and the Warriors have three games left to top that mark. But Kerr's primary goal has always been to clinch the No. 1 seed.
Asked about his reservations, Kerr said, "I'm a little uneasy about it. It's not that I'm worried about injury. You can get injured in practice. It's not so much that I want to rest guys to avoid injury, but we do have a back-to-back here. It will be our third game in four nights."
Golden State has off today but will play in Memphis on Saturday and in San Antonio in Sunday before closing the season against the Grizzlies on Wednesday at home.
All-star forward Draymond Green said he believes most of the team has their eyes set on the record despite the compressed schedule.
"Think about the year we've had: started 24-0, haven't lost two in a row all year, have had several streaks of seven-plus wins in a row, yet we're still sitting here needing three in a row," Green said. "That tells you how hard this is to do.
"So to get this far and kind of just tank it and say, 'Aw, never mind.' ... Let's face it, we probably will never get to this point again. That's why it's only been done one time. I think most guys in the locker room are all-in, and we'll figure that out this weekend."
Green had spoken up about the topic in a group text to his Golden State teammates earlier.
"I just told guys, 'Hey, if you need the rest, take the rest, and if you don't, we going after it,'" he said. "I think it can be tough depending on how you want to look at it, and most guys in the locker room are saying we're right here, we put all this effort into it, let's try to go for it."
For what it's worth, his teammates seem to agree.
All-star guard Klay Thompson was short and direct when asked about his decision.
"I'm not going to rest," he said. "I'm only 26. When I'm 36, I'll be looking to rest more."
Forward Harrison Barnes is unlikely to willingly hit the bench as well, saying, "I'm 23, so I've got no problem playing the rest of these games, and we'll go from there."
Reigning MVP and the favorite to win this year's award Stephen Curry said the Warriors haven't completed their mission yet.
"We wanted to take care of tonight and clinch home court for the playoffs, was a goal of ours," he said. "With three games left and 73 still there, it's obviously a lot to play for."
Follow Brandon Katz at @Great_Katzby
