Throughout the entire 2015-2016 season, NBA fans have been watching the Golden State Warriors dominate the league. Furthermore, the team has been compared to the greatest of teams, such as the 1995-1996 Chicago Bulls, who went 72-10. It sure looked like for most of the season that the Warriors were going to pass 72 wins and finish with the best regular season record in NBA history. As of last Friday, Golden State was 68-7 and 36-0 at home going into a home game against the Boston Celtics. The Celtics played incredible and got a hard fought win to end Golden State’s 54 game home winning streak.
So there goes Golden States chance of going undefeated at home for an entire season. The Warriors got a rest day Saturday and then took care of business on Sunday beating the Portland Trailblazers. Everyone had figured the Celtics had a fluke and got lucky. But then Tuesday night, the 25-52 Minnesota Timberwolves came into Oakland. Andrew Wiggins and Shabazz Muhammad played outstanding for the Wolves, who erased an eight point fourth quarter deficit en route to an overtime win which gave Golden State their second home loss of the season.
Now people can safely say that Boston’s win was not a fluke nor was the Timberwolves. It is a sign of the Warriors vulnerability. Undoubtedly the Warriors have the one of, if not, the most talented rosters in the NBA. The chemistry and teamwork is all there, and two losses in three games usually would not concern anybody, but it should concern the Warriors.
Why? Because the Warriors are supposed to be this historically great team and have proven on two occasions this season that the worst teams can beat them. The Lakers destroyed them in L.A. a few weeks ago, and then last night the Warriors dropped a home game to the Timberwolves. Give the Timberwolves credit, they have potential, but the talent has not developed there yet. For Golden State, it is not like they have been benching people either, they have Steph, Klay, and Draymond all still playing games at this point to try and get this record.
It seems like the Warriors are too focused on trying to get to 73 wins and it is hurting them. They now are in a position where they have to win the last four games of the season to beat this record. They play the Spurs twice, who now have a legitimate chance at first place in the West because of how sloppily the Warriors have been. The Spurs may not care about first place and care more about the health of the team, so they may rest everybody against the Warriors. The Warriors also have to play the Grizzlies twice, who are fighting for playoff positioning. Memphis has played about as good as they can without Mike Conley and Marc Gasol, so it would not be surprising if this mixture of guys played well enough to beat the Warriors.
It is sad, since Golden State has come so far, beating all these records, and now blew the chance at the best record ever. But they should not want this achievement, because if they do get to 73 wins, then they have A TON of added pressure on them in the playoffs. Imagine a 73-9 team that does not make it to the finals, because it could very well happen. The Spurs are that good and have potential to beat the Warriors. A lot of people thought Golden State would be tough to beat at home, but once the Celtics proved it was possible, the Timberwolves realized it was not impossible.
This really should not be a big deal that the Warriors have lost two games, but the timing is what should concern fans. A team this great should not be dropping games left and right after all the hard work put in earlier in the year.
