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Why Stephen Curry’s Golden State Warriors won’t beat their record of 73 wins

They are more than on schedule. Certainly in 2015-2016, the year of their record 73 wins, one more than the 1996 Chicago Bulls of Michael Jordan, the Golden State Warriors of Stephen Curry, Klay Thompson and Draymond Green had waited for December 12 and their 25th game for to lose. Yes, the “Dubs” had a barely believable record of 24 wins to one loss at the time. Beside, the 18-2 of this year would almost do task. But with 90% success, Steve Kerr’s players are doing as well, and even better, than their final… 89% in 2016. And yet, there are many reasons to believe that this record is out of reach. Even for them.

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In the United States, where we like to quantify everything, we also calculate the difficulty of the schedule of a particular team. The “Strength of Schedule” therefore exists and it is supposed to put the results of a team into perspective. A glance at the one at the start of the season, dated November 29, shows that the Detroit Pistons had the most difficult program while, on the contrary, the Phoenix Suns had the simplest.

The Warriors “rank” just behind the 2021 finalists as they faced teams ranked 18th overall. Sacramento, Oklahoma City (twice), Memphis, New Orleans, Houston, Minnesota, Portland, Toronto, Cleveland … As many opponents who appear in the second half of the League standings. On the other hand, and to be complete, it must be remembered that the Lakers, the Clippers (twice since Sunday), the Bulls and the Nets have bitten the dust against the Warriors. As such, the double confrontation of the week against the Suns (17-3) can serve as a very good indicator.

Their workforce is less complete than in 2016

We may tend to forget it when we talk about the dynasty of the Warriors, it is without Kevin Durant that they managed this fabulous season with nine defeats in 82 games. In 2015-2016, in addition to the trio Curry, Thompson, Green, Steve Kerr could count on soldiers like Harrison Barnes, Andre Iguodala, Andrew Bogut, Shaun Livingston or even Leandro Barbosa and Festus Ezeli. Among them, the nine players who stayed on the field the longest on average, only one had less than three seasons in the NBA (Ezeli).

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In short, it was a workforce that was still young but quite experienced who led the destiny of the Californian franchise. It is less true this season and the Poole, Toscano-Anderson, Lee, Kuminga and soon Wiseman all have a more or less important role without being installed players in the big league. We can argue that the Warriors are already excellent without Klay Thompson who will no longer be long in coming back. It’s true but we can imagine the franchise of San Francisco having learned the lesson of 2016.

In 2016, they did not finish champions

Everyone remembers the outcome of this 2015-2016 season: the Cleveland Cavaliers had recovered from a 3-1 deficit in the final to offer the city a first league title with a LeBron James at the top of his game. The Warriors’ 73-9 season ended in terrible disillusion. By conceding just five losses in the second half of the season, Stephen Curry’s teammates had kept the same pace for the entire regular season.

A glance at the last 20 matches of the season allows to see that the “Big 3”, Curry, Thompson and Green, had seen their playing time increase, of little it is true, in the end. Rather than resting their players, the Californians chased the record. And in the Playoffs, Curry had paid off by largely missing the first two laps and then not finding his rhythm thereafter. If it is necessary to sacrifice the record and put his stars to rest, Kerr will undoubtedly not hesitate this time.

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