The Golden State Warriors have stumbled a couple of times over the last few weeks, putting them on the brink of only being able to tie the '96 Bulls for the best regular season record ever (as if “only” winning 72 games isn't incredibly impressive still). They'll need to win out to reach 73 victories and set the record outright.
Before taking on the San Antonio Spurs in a highly anticipated matchup tonight, Klay Thompson spoke to the media about the distractions facing the Warriors as the season winds down.
“We've been kind of in a fog these last two weeks, but it's not the end of the world,” Thompson told Tim Kawakami of Mercury News. “It's a long, 82-game regular season, you've just got to look at these last four as tune-up time and get ready for the real thing.”
It seems that Thompson is actually downplaying the record, instead focusing on getting ready for the postseason. However, they probably won't slow down until they clinch the number one seed out West. Defeating the Spurs tonight will do exactly that.
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The Warriors have gone 5-2 over the last two weeks, which is hardly a struggle for most teams, but Golden State's on their own level (San Antonio isn't far behind). It could've been even worse; the Warriors held on for single digit victories over the Dallas Mavericks, Washington Wizards, and an overtime thriller over the Utah Jazz in that span.
Thompson went on to acknowledge that head coach Steve Kerr has already given players the option of resting up rather than pushing themselves down the final few games. Good thing they're still an overall young squad.
“He's leaving it up to us, if we want to tell him,” Thompson said. “There's a time when we're all fatigue, it happens, it's natural. But it's nice, we'll get a couple days off between those playoff games. I think we've got three games in four days (coming up). We've got two days before our last game. We've got our whole full squad back, so minutes won't be as heavy. I'm only 26. If I was 36, it'd be a different story.”
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