Golden State Warriors: 5 Areas That Need Attention Before The Playoffs

2. Balance Between Fatigue And The No. 1 Seed

As you can see, there are quite a few factors in play here. The Warriors will want to beat the Spurs at least once, but they’re also currently shorthanded. They want to secure the No. 1 seed and, if possible, reach 73 wins to break the 1995-95 Chicago Bulls’ regular season record, but they need everyone healthy to achieve their ultimate goal of winning another championship.

Over the last two games, we’ve already seen Curry look tired and very unlike himself. He’s gone 3-for-21 from three-point range in that span and 10-for-35 from the field overall. Thompson drilled all five of his three-pointers in the Dubs’ most recent win in Minnesota, but he was 1-for-7 against San Antonio and is 12-for-34 from the field overall in his last two games.

For a team whose aspirations extend far beyond winning 73 wins and breaking some regular season record — impressive though it would be — Kerr will need to toe the line between resting key players and keeping their distance from the Spurs to secure that No. 1 seed.

Beating the Spurs at Oracle would all but wrap things up, and the imminent returns of Bogut, Iggy and hopefully Ezeli would put less pressure on Curry, Thompson and Green to produce in more minutes. But with the Dubs needing to go 10-2 over the next 12 games to win 73 games, it’ll be interesting to see how they go about closing out this historic season.

Next: No. 1