The defending champion Golden State Warriors are on to something incredible this season. After defeating the Cleveland Cavaliers in the NBA Finals last year and ruining LeBron James's homecoming return back to the Cavs after spending four years with the Miami Heat and winning two rings, everybody thought the Warriors were unstoppable. It turns out, everyone underestimated them. In a way that doesn't make sense to really anybody, the Warriors have gotten even better than they were last year, and last year's MVP Stephen Curry definitely can make a case for being both the MVP and Most Improved Player after he shattered his three-point record for most made threes in an NBA season. However, the biggest question on everybody's minds since practically the beginning of the season: will this team win 73 games this season to make history as one of the best teams ever in NBA history?
Currently holding the record are the 1995-1996 Chicago Bulls team, led by Michael Jordan and Scottie Pippen, who won an astounding 72 wins in one NBA season, and ultimately went on to beat the Seattle SuperSonics, now the Oklahoma City Thunder, to win the NBA Finals. That year, the Chicago Bulls made incredible history becoming the first team ever to even win 70 games in an 82-game season. Nobody ever thought an accomplishment such as this could be surpassed at the time, but the Golden State Warriors have an actually very good chance at completing this very feat.
The Warriors are currently 53-5, more than halfway to the record, after an incredible win over the Oklahoma City Thunder at the Chesapeake Energy Arena in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. If they can finish the season 20-4, they can do something they, and many others, will remember for the rest of their lives. While they still will have some tough competition, their remaining schedule shows that achieving this goal is actually very possible. Most of the remaining teams they play do not pose a huge threat to them, as those teams have struggled this season, but there are three teams that could crush the Golden State Warriors' hopes if they play at their best: the Oklahoma City Thunder, the Los Angeles Lakers, and the Warriors' greatest threat, the San Antonio Spurs.
Their next big match up comes on Thursday against the Thunder. Kevin Durant and Russell Westbrook are sure to remember their loss in OKC so they will probably play very hard in order to get their revenge. Next on Saturday, March 19, the Warriors will have to face their most-feared opponent in the San Antonio Spurs, who they will have to play three times before the end of the regular season. This first match up will be interesting as the Spurs, who have the second best record in all the NBA, behind the Warriors, have never lost in NBA game at home this regular season, so the Warriors will have a difficult time beating them. The other two match ups come at basically the end of the regular season, so Spurs coach Gregg Popovich will likely rest his key players which may make it easier for the Warriors who will probably look to make history rather than resting. Their last tough match up will be against the Los Angeles Clippers, who always seem to play hard against the Warriors, however, the Clippers will be without Blake Griffin who is out with a hand injury and still has to pay a suspension for an altercation earlier in the season.
The Warriors still have a tough road ahead, but it looks very likely that they could make history this year.
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