Golden State Warriors: Can this team beat the 73-win record?

The Golden State Warriors will be heading into the 2018-19 NBA season with high expectations.

It is no secret that the Golden State Warriors are heavy favorites to win the 2019 NBA Finals. The Dubs have been one of the most dominant teams in recent history, and an NBA championship is definitely their main goal for this upcoming 2018-19 season.

With that being said, we’ve seen plenty of teams win championships before. One thing we have never seen is a franchise that has had multiple seasons of 70+ regular season wins. Could the Warriors become the first organization to accomplish this?

Back in the 2015-16 season, Golden State was running teams out of the gym. Led by Stephen Curry, the Dubs won 73 regular season games by an average margin of victory of 10.76 points per game. This broke the record for most regular season wins and placed them sixth all-time for largest average margin of victory. Consequently, Curry became the first ever unanimous MVP.

When comparing the 2015-16 Warriors roster to the current roster, it’s clear that the modern-day Warriors are the better team. Golden State has brought back the three components to the 2016 unit. Curry, Klay Thompson and Draymond Green are all still in their primes. This trio was responsible for creating the Death Lineup and making the Dubs as deadly as they became.

Of course, the team became even stronger when it added former MVP and nine-time All-Star Kevin Durant. The Warriors have already had a 67-win season with Durant’s influence and have won back-to-back championships. KD provides the extra firepower needed to keep Golden State in peak condition while also allowing key players to remain rested.

Lastly, the addition of DeMarcus Cousins is a game-changer. With a squad already consisting of four All-Stars, bringing in Cousins almost feels unfair. The league has never seen a roster of this magnitude. Their Dubs’ starting five arguably contains a top-three NBA player at every single position.

On paper, it seems like this team should be a lock to win 73 or more games. It looks as if the Dubs will be invincible. With that being said, we all know that simply having star players doesn’t equate to winning games. How these elite talents perform together will prove whether or not they can make history.

The Warriors have a number of questions they need to answer before they can focus on beating the 73-win record. For example, they need to address the looming issue that is Cousins’ Achilles injury. Not many players have suffered that injury and returned at full strength. This is something that could plague the entire season.

Also, it is likely the team will hit some growing pains at some point as these five All-Stars learn to play together. All of these players will be wanting their fair share of the spotlight. Sharing the ball equally between the entire starting lineup will be a challenge.

However, I don’t think Golden State will struggle by any means. Steve Kerr is an outstanding head coach and has more than proven he can manage multiple stars on the same roster. The winning culture has been set in Oakland for four years now and I doubt the addition of Cousins will change their style of play too much.

With that being said, winning 73 games in one season is no easy task. The Warriors exerted a large amount of energy en route to making history in 2016. This exhaustion carried over into the postseason and likely played a role in them coming up short in the NBA Finals. They finished the year as runner-ups to the Cleveland Cavaliers, who won the NBA Finals in seven games.

So, while this team is capable of winning more than 73 games, there is no real reason for them to chase this goal. Sure, having multiple seasons of 70+ wins would help them in the argument for the best dynasty of all time. However, at the end of the day, all the people care about is winning championships. The Warriors would much rather save their energy for another title run than compete for another regular season record.