Was 73-9 worth it?

[Uncle Drew]

* Assuming they won't come back from 3-1 down.

Was it really worth it? Instead of resting key players, getting them ready for the playoffs, Kerr ran them into the ground, chasing the record. Records can be broken, but banners hang forever.

(Legit) Dubs fans: would you rather go 71-11 and win the championship, or go 73-9 lose in the WCF and be remembered as the NBA's New England Patriots?

[Kiddlovesnets]

It was worth it, they could've collapsed much worse if they failed to reach 73 wins.

[RoseCity07]

When you're that stacked it's all good.

[bigkingsfan]

(Legit) Dubs fans: would you rather go 71-11 and win the championship, or go 73-9 lose in the WCF and be remembered as the NBA's New England Patriots?
What kind of question is this? :durantunimpressed:

[FKAri]

"resting" has been proven time and time again to make no difference heading into the postseason. Spurs and Dallas both have had epic post season collapses after "resting" players. The Raptors coming off of b2b 7 game series are tied with the heavily favored Cavs who came off of b2b sweeps.

Rest is good but GS didn't have to expend much physical energy to get it done. Look at the minutes played. Maybe you could argue it was mentally taxing or whatever. But I would disagree with that as well.

[Spurs m8]

73-9 is going to go down as a good laugh in the end.

[NBAGOAT]

trying too hard in the regular season only hurts if you're playing thibodeau level minutes and you usually get affected by injuries the next season or season after.

[SexSymbol]

It depends on whether Steph still gets injured because of the rest or not.
If he doesn't, than it's a cakewalk to the finals, if he still does get injured and ruins the momentum and rhythm, that's the same result

[Dr Seuss]

so if they went 70-12, they wouldnt be down 3-1?

stupid justification

[Stringer Bell]

I don't think it made that much of a difference. Maybe they could be more rested but I don't think they're that tired where it's the difference.

OKC is just playing really, really well and exploiting the weaknesses that were always there for GSW. They just came off beating a 67-win Spur team. Gotta give them a lot of credit.

[SamuraiSWISH]

It depends on whether Steph still gets injured because of the rest or not.
If he doesn't, than it's a cakewalk to the finals, if he still does get injured and ruins the momentum and rhythm, that's the same result
Lol cake walk? Thunder just annihilated two overrated teams who went all out in the regular season and stacked wins in a weak league.

Westbrook is taking a dump on the fraud unanimous MVP worse than anything I've seen before. Yes, worse than any Dirk choke or when prime LeBron and Miami put a straight jacket on the one man 2011 Rose led Bulls team.

At his own position, no less. A direct competitor.

And don't give me this excuse like Curry had some major injury. He was back in no time. And played well for a number of games up until he faced Russell. Besides one quarter he has been made into that Ninja Turtles little hoe all series. He's healthy enough to perform in the Portland series or in the 3rd quarter of game 2. Now he's missing layups and free throws. Dude is shook.

[BedroomBully]

That's a hard question to answer. Yes and NO. Yes because they broke the most games won during regular season record, and no because the expectations of a championship were not met! Its a choke job for sure! Regular season does not mean a thing if you do not capture the title.

[K Xerxes]

Lol cake walk? Thunder just annihilated two overrated teams who went all out in the regular season and stacked wins in a weak league.

Westbrook is taking a dump on the fraud unanimous MVP worse than anything I've seen before. Yes, worse than any Dirk choke or when prime LeBron and Miami put a straight jacket on the one man 2011 Rose led Bulls team.

At his own position, no less. A direct competitor.

And don't give me this excuse like Curry had some major injury. He was back in no time. And played well for a number of games up until he faced Russell. Besides one quarter he has been made into that Ninja Turtles little hoe all series. He's healthy enough to perform in the Portland series or in the 3rd quarter of game 2. Now he's missing layups and free throws. Dude is shook.

:applause:

Curry (in truth Kobe) stans making pathetic excuses for Westbrook raping curry means jack shit. Curry has to step up these next 3 games and win the series for his team. That's what great players do.

[coin24]

73-9 is going to go down as a good laugh in the end.


This :lol

I thought they should have been resting guys the last few weeks, not playing 30+ minutes chasing the record..
Now they look stupid couldn't even make the finals:lol

[kamil]

* Assuming they won't come back from 3-1 down.

Was it really worth it? Instead of resting key players, getting them ready for the playoffs, Kerr ran them into the ground, chasing the record. Records can be broken, but banners hang forever.

(Legit) Dubs fans: would you rather go 71-11 and win the championship, or go 73-9 lose in the WCF and be remembered as the NBA's New England Patriots?

New England Patriots made it to the Superbowl... by the looks of it, GSW isn't even going to make it that far.

[SouBeachTalents]

I don't think physically it would have made much of a difference, they were relatively healthy and the minutes they played per game were well managed. The only affect 73-9 might have had would be mentally. After breaking the record those players know they become a laughingstock if they don't win the title. Same thing happened to the Patriots, if they had finished 15-1 I think they play with much less pressure. I'm not saying this is necessarily the case, but I think it's at least a possibility

[tpols]

I don't think physically it would have made much of a difference, they were relatively healthy and the minutes they played per game were well managed. The only affect 73-9 might have had would be mentally. After breaking the record those players know they become a laughingstock if they don't win the title. Same thing happened to the Patriots, if they had finished 15-1 I think they play with much less pressure. I'm not saying this is necessarily the case, but I think it's at least a possibility

I think it hurt them because it undermined their opponents. Everyone counted OKC out but they have more experience and have been through more adversity way before the Warriors were even a thing.. so it put a chip on their opponents shoulder big time.

[JimmyMcAdocious]

So if GS wins 69 games, other teams won't trying to play up the underdog role and GS wouldn't be getting out played by OKC? Athletes look for every advantage possible. Us against the world is as common as it gets. I've seen teams that were clearly the most dominant and/or talented in that particular season use it. ****, the Warriors were doing that all season after the media and butthurts were calling their title run fraudulent.

Maybe, just maybe, OKC (the team with two top 5 players) is playing better.

[ace23]

Worth what? Resting the players for 3-5 games wouldn't have done shit.

[Rake2204]

I don't think physically it would have made much of a difference, they were relatively healthy and the minutes they played per game were well managed. The only affect 73-9 might have had would be mentally. After breaking the record those players know they become a laughingstock if they don't win the title. Same thing happened to the Patriots, if they had finished 15-1 I think they play with much less pressure. I'm not saying this is necessarily the case, but I think it's at least a possibilityI agree with a bit of this. Not only were minutes generally well-managed throughout the season, but they had a fair bit of off-time in the postseason due to a spread schedule and ending at least one series relatively early.

I've actually kind of wondered the opposite about Curry. After sitting out with the ankle sprain then missing something like two weeks with the sprained knee, I'm a little curious about his conditioning.

And I reckon there's some pressure with winning 73 games, but I'd take that pressure over not striving for greatness. The 72-win Bulls faced that pressure too, and what they got was an NBA championship AND the all-time record for wins in a season.

[bdreason]

I don't see how more rest would stop the Thunder from turning into World beaters. Warriors aren't losing because they're tired.

[Marchesk]

Everyone forgets that the Giants who beat that undefeated Patriots team, were not rested at all. In fact, they had the final spot of the playoffs sewn up before the last regular season game, also against the Patriots.

The Giants starters voted to try and end New England's perfect season. It went to overtime. So the Giants risked injury and skipped rest, being that they were a wild card team, just to try and win a regular season game.

Then they go on the road to beat three teams, before the great upset in the Super Bowl. And what did they say about that last regular season game? It gave them confidence going into the SB.

Rest is a load of crock.

[bluechox2]

how hard is it to pull of 3 straight wins

[Boogaboog]

* Assuming they won't come back from 3-1 down.

Was it really worth it? Instead of resting key players, getting them ready for the playoffs, Kerr ran them into the ground, chasing the record. Records can be broken, but banners hang forever.

(Legit) Dubs fans: would you rather go 71-11 and win the championship, or go 73-9 lose in the WCF and be remembered as the NBA's New England Patriots?

:no: Too disrespectful. Pats have 4 Championships under Brady/Belichick and barely lost that Super Bowl.

[stalkerforlife]

Hell no.

Ruined their season.

Meaningless record.

[dubnation]

New England Patriots made it to the Superbowl... by the looks of it, GSW isn't even going to make it that far.

LOL I thought it was worse to lose in the finals than before it, right?

Retard. :facepalm

[Lebron23]

LOL I thought it was worse to lose in the finals than before it, right?

Retard. :facepalm


His IQ is below sea level.

[DCL]

going 73-9 might have been premature ejaculation

now they can't get it back up anymore

[kamil]

LOL I thought it was worse to lose in the finals than before it, right?

Retard. :facepalm

Context, bitch.

[Lebron23]

going 73-9 might have been premature ejaculation

now they can't get it back up anymore

Biggest Choke job in NBA History.

[oarabbus]

73-9 is worthless if we don't win the title. I don't want to be the 2007 patriots...

[deja vu]

It's possible that chasing the record increased Curry's chances of getting injured, and that's what happened in the Rockets series.

Can't blame them for going for the record though.

[Draz]

obviously not

[ScalsFan21]

73-9 is historic but in an era where so many teams water themselves down in the RS... it's just not as important as a championship. If they don't win, from now until the end of time we will hear about rest that Kerr could've doled out if "making history" was not a factor. That they "would've won" had they played the RS more smartly.

How much truth there is to that is debatable, but I've been saying all season that if GSW breaks the record and does not win a title, they will go down as the poster child of lessons for future teams in this league. It will cultivate a never before seen level of disinterest in regular season games from elite teams and even some mid-tier playoff teams, especially in the East.

"Remember the Warriors in 2016?" I can hear it now. Owners and GMs making sure to prioritize rest and not pushing guys when they aren't 100% even more than usual. I can't blame them, that's how the smartest teams handle things already. But for those fans who are disgusted with how meaningless the regular season has become, I don't think a GSW loss would spell good news for those people looking ahead in this league.

Could be wrong, and they certainly haven't lost yet, but it's not a good look and doesn't reflect well on setting records that do not directly coincide with getting that ring.

[nashwade]

let be honest, people will remember an NBA historic record for a longer time rather than a team who won back to back titles

[ScalsFan21]

let be honest, people will remember an NBA historic record for a longer time rather than a team who won back to back titles

100% true, but that's precisely what makes this so bad (if they lost). It won't just be "the Warriors this one year won 73 games, damn". It'll be "the Warriors this one year won 73 games and didn't win the championship, DAMN".

And for all the talk from their team this year about being further motivated by people criticizing their path last season. Well, if they lose Game 5 tonight... there will plenty more criticism coming their way to chew on for "motivation". :lol

[sportjames23]

let be honest, people will remember an NBA historic record for a longer time rather than a team who won back to back titles


They won't remember it in a good way if GSW don't win it all. The Patriots are a footnote now instead of being remembered as the GOAT team. That's what will happen to the Warriors if they don't win this year.

[DCL]

Biggest Choke job in NBA History.

actually, NO. sonics losing to the nuggets in the first round in the 90s was the biggest choke job in nba history. NOBODY was expecting the weak ass nuggets with mutombo to beat that powerhouse fully loaded team. NOBODY. it was 8th seed knocking down 1st seed. it shook the minds of everyone. some may also recall 1st-seed mavs vs. 8th-seed warriors a while ago too, but that matchup was all in don nelson's favor and he knew all the buttons to press on dirk.

this golden state team are currently down 1-3 now. people are kinda surprised by it, but nobody is really shocked out of their minds and asking WTF is this happening right now?!?! curry took a vacation for about two weeks but this thunder team got a healthy durant and healthy westbrook and they are working with serious firepower. this is not an unbelievable occurrence.

if thunders advance, nobody is scratching their head for a week and questioning how the fk did it happen. and this is the conference finals in the west, not friggin first round. it is a huge choke job when you lose to an opponent that you were supposed to completely dominate without question. this thunder team is the total opposite of that kind of opponent.

[kamil]

actually, NO. sonics losing to the nuggets in the first round in the 90s was the biggest choke job in nba history. NOBODY was expecting the weak ass nuggets with mutombo to beat that powerhouse fully loaded team. NOBODY. it was 8th seed knocking down 1st seed. it shook the minds of everyone. some may also recall 1st-seed mavs vs. 8th-seed warriors a while ago too, but that matchup was all in don nelson's favor and he knew all the buttons to press on dirk.

this golden state team are currently down 1-3 now. people are kinda surprised by it, but nobody is really shocked out of their minds and asking WTF is this happening right now?!?! curry took a vacation for about two weeks but this thunder team got a healthy durant and healthy westbrook so they are working with serious firepower. this is not an unbelievable occurrence.

if thunders advance, nobody is questioning how the fk did it happen. and this is the conference finals in the west, not friggin first round. it is a huge choke job when you lose to an opponent that you were supposed to completely dominate without question. this thunder team is the total opposite of that kind of opponent.

Yes they are, because they just got an NBA record of 73-9 regular season.

[BigBoss]

How is going 73-9 related to being down 3-1 against OKC?

(Yes it was worth it. Your in the history books.)

[DCL]

Yes they are, because they just got an NBA record of 73-9 regular season.

you saying you can't even think how in the world can a team with a past mvp and potential future mvp is leading 3-1??

is it just so impossible to digest that it is the biggest shock you've ever seen in the nba playoffs????

you'd only believe that if you focus too much on the superficial record.

[Fox]

:no: Too disrespectful. Pats have 4 Championships under Brady/Belichick and barely lost that Super Bowl.

How is it disrepectful? Just because won championships before and after, doesn't mean the 18-1 wasn't a massive choke. It was. That particular year they made possibly of one the biggest chokes in NFL history. They could have lost by one point, and it would have still been an epic choke, because of the way they played that year leading up to the Super Bowl. It's the same with the Warriors.

Inb4 comment on avatar and location

[SouBeachTalents]

How is it disrepectful? Just because won championships before and after, doesn't mean the 18-1 wasn't a massive choke. It was. That particular year they made possibly of one the biggest chokes in NFL history. They could have lost by one point, and it would have still been an epic choke, because of the way they played that year leading up to the Super Bowl. It's the same with the Warriors.

Inb4 comment on avatar and location

I'm not disputing the Pats losing in the Super Bowl wasn't an epic upset and massive disappointment, but the Pats level of play dropped off SIGNIFICANTLY in the second half of the season, a point I feel is always ignored. The first half of the season the '07 Pats were by far the most dominant team ever assembled, winning every game by 3-4 TD's.

The second half of the season though, while still great, they were much more vulnerable. They barely beat the Eagles at home with A.J. Feeley at QB by 3 points. Got totally outplayed by a terrible Ravens team and received several lucky breaks to barely win by 3 points. Beat a horrendous Jets team at home by 10 points. Had to come back from 12 points down to beat the Giants in week 17 by 3 points.

Then in the playoffs they beat the Jaguars by 11 in the Divisional Round, then beat a Chargers team with injuries to Tomlinson, Rivers & Gates by 9 points in the AFC Title Game. Again, not saying it wasn't a huge upset, but in retrospect, you could just see the Pats performance diminish greatly as the season wore on. Factoring in the Giants beat the Pats again in the Super Bowl 4 years later, it's honestly not as big of an upset as it would truly seem.

[HurricaneKid]

I'm not disputing the Pats losing in the Super Bowl wasn't an epic upset and massive disappointment, but the Pats level of play dropped off SIGNIFICANTLY in the second half of the season, a point I feel is always ignored. The first half of the season the '07 Pats were by far the most dominant team ever assembled, winning every game by 3-4 TD's.

The second half of the season though, while still great, they were much more vulnerable. They barely beat the Eagles at home with A.J. Feeley at QB by 3 points. Got totally outplayed by a terrible Ravens team and received several lucky breaks to barely win by 3 points. Beat a horrendous Jets team at home by 10 points. Had to come back from 12 points down to beat the Giants in week 17 by 3 points.

Then in the playoffs they beat the Jaguars by 11 in the Divisional Round, then beat a Chargers team with injuries to Tomlinson, Rivers & Gates by 9 points in the AFC Title Game. Again, not saying it wasn't a huge upset, but in retrospect, you could just see the Pats performance diminish greatly as the season wore on. Factoring in the Giants beat the Pats again in the Super Bowl 4 years later, it's honestly not as big of an upset as it would truly seem.

Kind of like how Golden State struggled with a Portland team that no one thought had a chance to make the playoffs while OKC was, after an embarrassing G1, destroying the Spurs.

GSW were ~2:1 to win this series but just based on how good they looked up to that point, OKC should not have been overlooked by ANYONE. I almost bet a pile of money on them.

[Rake2204]

They won't remember it in a good way if GSW don't win it all. The Patriots are a footnote now instead of being remembered as the GOAT team. That's what will happen to the Warriors if they don't win this year.Personally, as someone who actually has really fond memories of multiple Warriors teams who never really accomplished much of anything (the Run TMC squads and the Baron Davis "We Believe" run), the current Warriors era has had more than enough awesomeness for me to always reflect back fondly (and I say that as a diehard Pistons fan).

I think if Golden State hadn't won a ring last season, then talk of their repeated failures and inability to succeed would be overwhelming and maybe a little more justified. However, again only speaking on my behalf, an NBA team with a guy like Curry shooting like no one ever has in the history of the world, winning an NBA championship then coming back to win an NBA-record 73 games while playing some of the most thrilling basketball we've ever seen... I don't see that as a footnote.

There's been a lot of teams throughout history who remain pretty well remembered (say, the Shaq-era Magic or Ewing's Knicks) yet never accomplished a microcosm of what this squad's brought to the table.

Also, if OKC takes this, it's going to be worth noting that they didn't just plow through a 73-win Warriors team, but they did so after taking out a Spurs team that was also pushing 70 this year (aka the squad that was supposed to be the only threat to Golden State in the first place).

[Da_Realist]

Was it worth going for? YES. Always strive for the stars. Will not winning the championship smear the glossy shine? A thousand times YES. Even GS fans won't want to think about this season with all the dancing and shimmying, unanimous MVP award and the record breaking 73 wins. It will only serve as build up to a tragic ending.

GS is not just losing, they are getting their asses kicked on a historic level. An average 26 point loss the last two games. One more loss and they will go down as the poster child of regular season excellence but a tragic example of the merit of facing a determined team every other day for two weeks (or much less).

One more loss, Golden State loses but playoff basketball wins. This is also a cautionary warning of not shimmying at the opposing bench during a regular season game. Who wants to rewatch the Feb 27 game at OKC this summer? Right... I never thought I'd see it but OKC has knocked the arrogance right out of Steph. I never thought OKC would have the focus and discipline to beat GS. I'm surprised, too.

[ArbitraryWater]

Kind of like how Golden State struggled with a Portland team that no one thought had a chance to make the playoffs while OKC was, after an embarrassing G1, destroying the Spurs.

GSW were ~2:1 to win this series but just based on how good they looked up to that point, OKC should not have been overlooked by ANYONE. I almost bet a pile of money on them.

same.. I was so close to putting 100 (not exactly a pile) for 800.... ahh fck

[ScalsFan21]

I'm not disputing the Pats losing in the Super Bowl wasn't an epic upset and massive disappointment, but the Pats level of play dropped off SIGNIFICANTLY in the second half of the season, a point I feel is always ignored.

Again, not saying it wasn't a huge upset, but in retrospect, you could just see the Pats performance diminish greatly as the season wore on.

And lot of people forget how reliant that team was on the Brady-Moss deep connection, I feel like eventually teams got wise to their "blueprint". It wasn't exactly an unpredictable team. I've never seen a team even approach their same level of success while going to the "take the top off the defense" strategy so frequently. It was really the key to that offense and you could make a very valid argument that team was very overrated, and that one loss really highlights this beyond what anyone ever would have mentioned had they won.

They go 19-0, "they were just too good, any flaws they had don't matter", but given they struggled to a degree in the second half (at least by GOAT standards) and then capped it off with a loss at the end, flaws become more glaring.

[DCL]

people should not be shocked because this OKC team was always legit. people should had paid more attention since Feb 27. the story the next day was all about curry's crazy buzzer-beater, but it should had been that OKC almost beat that team when curry was 100% healthy. in the playoffs, OKC took care of business against san antonio, another team that had a historically dominant season, and now they're giving serious challenge to golden state team with curry not playing at 100%. so why should people be shocked out of their minds?? OKC got two of the top players in the league that one can count with, at most, two hands, who are healthy and in their primes.

so yeah yeah, GS beat everyone to get 73 wins in the regular season and that's the hype of ESPN all season, but this OKC team ain't no joke. just because you get 73 wins, it doesn't mean the playoffs in the west was gonna be a simple walk in the park. the warriors are dealing with that cold reality right now.

[r0drig0lac]

I believe it was worth, but Thunder is clicking at the right time (the team has a lot of talent and athleticism) and gsw seems to be mentally worn out (nothing less than the championship is a failure and they know it)

[Da_Realist]

people should not be shocked because this OKC team was always legit. people should had paid more attention since Feb 27. the story the next day was all about curry's crazy buzzer-beater, but it should had been that OKC almost beat that team when curry was 100% healthy. in the playoffs, OKC took care of business against san antonio, another team that had a historically dominant season, and now they're giving serious challenge to golden state team with curry not playing at 100%. so why should people be shocked out of their minds?? OKC got two of the top players in the league that one can count with, at most, two hands, who are healthy and in their primes.

so yeah yeah, GS beat everyone to get 73 wins in the regular season and that's the hype of ESPN all season, but this OKC team ain't no joke. just because you get 73 wins, it doesn't mean the playoffs in the west was gonna be a simple walk in the park. the warriors are dealing with that cold reality right now.

Excellent article of how Billy Donovan prepared his team for the playoffs -->

http://www.sbnation.com/2016/5/26/11765634/oklahoma-city-thunder-defense-breakdown-golden-state-warriors-stopped

[sportjames23]

GSW = Only Built for the Regular Season

OKC = Only Built 4 Cuban Linx


https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/1/17/Raekwon_only.jpg

Someone manip GOATbrook and KD on this.

[Hey Yo]

Personally, as someone who actually has really fond memories of multiple Warriors teams who never really accomplished much of anything (the Run TMC squads and the Baron Davis "We Believe" run), the current Warriors era has had more than enough awesomeness for me to always reflect back fondly (and I say that as a diehard Pistons fan).

I think if Golden State hadn't won a ring last season, then talk of their repeated failures and inability to succeed would be overwhelming and maybe a little more justified. However, again only speaking on my behalf, an NBA team with a guy like Curry shooting like no one ever has in the history of the world, winning an NBA championship then coming back to win an NBA-record 73 games while playing some of the most thrilling basketball we've ever seen... I don't see that as a footnote.

There's been a lot of teams throughout history who remain pretty well remembered (say, the Shaq-era Magic or Ewing's Knicks) yet never accomplished a microcosm of what this squad's brought to the table.

Also, if OKC takes this, it's going to be worth noting that they didn't just plow through a 73-win Warriors team, but they did so after taking out a Spurs team that was also pushing 70 this year (aka the squad that was supposed to be the only threat to Golden State in the first place).
If OKC wins the title this year (say they face the Cavs in the Finals) I would have to think it would have be considered the toughest road to a title in the modern era.

The combined reg. season W-L record of the 4 teams OKC would have beaten to win the title would be 233-89.

[ScalsFan21]

If OKC wins the title this year (say they face the Cavs in the Finals) I would have to think it would have be considered the toughest road to a title in the modern era.

The combined reg. season W-L record of the 4 teams OKC would have beaten to win the title would be 233-89.

100% agree. It's debatable but I'd take this road over any others. They will have won 3 series as the road team, each with a top 3-4 player in the league. It's an awesome feat if they are able to do it.

[ArbitraryWater]

100% agree. It's debatable but I'd take this road over any others. They will have won 3 series as the road team, each with a top 3-4 player in the league. It's an awesome feat if they are able to do it.

OKC has been the betting underdog in every single WCSF and WCF game so far.. if they win both series', pretty sure thats unprecedented.

[guy]

It would actually be 239-89. And the 95 Rockets's opponents were 238-90. So yes, I would assume this would probably be the toughest road based on W-L.