Golden State Warriors: 5 bold predictions for 2017-18 NBA season

1. The Warriors crack 70 again…without even trying

Whether the 73-win Warriors were going for the record in 2015-16 or not is irrelevant; they were trying to win every night. It is why they opened the season 24-0, and why they rallied so ferociously every time a game was in doubt.

Their approach made perfect sense. They had just won a championship, and yet had spent the entire summer hearing about how lucky they had gotten. They entered 2015-16 with the third-best title odds, and they were as hungry as a reigning champion has ever been.

They were also young and arrogant. They knew how good they were, but not how vulnerable. Of course, they learned in the most gut-wrenching way how unimportant regular season wins are. As a result, the 2016-17 Warriors were indifferent, if not weary.

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After a summer of praise rather than doubt, they will not enter this title defense as hungrily as their last. Despite their 16-1 postseason, they will not be as cocky this time around, either.

None of this will stop them from winning 70 games. They are simply too good not to.

That may sound hyperbolic, but think of it this way: The Warriors were out of whack for most of last season. They misused Durant until January. Curry was not himself until March. He did not become himself until Durant got injured. They struggled all year to find their crunch-time mojo. And they won 67 games.

Normally, that number would represent an outlier. Throughout NBA history, 67 wins has meant magic, a season in which everything came together. For the Warriors of the past three years, it has been a baseline. For the 2017-18 version of the team, it would be a disappointment.

Curry is all but guaranteed to shoot the ball better this year. Durant will be more comfortable, and thus even more devastating as a scorer and playmaker in Kerr’s offense. Young, Bell and Omri Casspi are significantly better than the players they are replacing in Ian Clark, McAdoo and Matt Barnes, respectively.

73 is still lofty. Even for this team, it would be special. They will win 70, though, regardless of whether they want to or not.

Next: Ranking the 10 NBA teams who have 'next' after the Warriors

If they cared as much as the 2015-16 team did, hell, they could win 75.