Seeking ring over new mark for wins
Saving stamina for playoffs tops pursuing history
Little more than halfway into a 10-minute group interview Wednesday, Andre Iguodala called for a Warriors support staffer.
“The clock’s late,” Iguodala said, pointing at the game clock that tracks the team’s postpractice media availability. “I’ve been over here longer than 2½ minutes.”
Entering his 13th NBA season, Iguodala is a master of efficiency. The small forward recognizes the importance of pacing himself, on the court and off, to withstand the grind of the league schedule.
This bit of wisdom is especially crucial as Golden State embarks on the most anticipated season in franchise history. Though the Warriors will compete each time they take the court, they aren’t trying to top the NBA-record 73 games they won last regular season. The focus will remain on preserving energy for the ultimate objective: a championship.
“To be quite frank with you, I don’t want to win 74 games or 75 games,” forward Draymond Green said. “It’s brutal.”
Golden State’s pursuit of history last season took its toll.
Motivated by the urge to silence anyone who doubted their surprising run to the 2015 NBA title, the Warriors delivered playoff-level effort throughout an 82-game schedule. Opening the season with a record 24 consecutive victories made them the league’s biggest story. Soon enough, the question became whether Golden State could break the 1995-96 Bulls’ regular-season wins record.
The Warriors kept the emphasis on securing the Western Conference’s top seed. By the time the Spurs eventually fell out of contention for that
spot, Golden State was staring down a feat many had long considered impossible. Going for 73 made sense.
It is unclear whether the Warriors’ commanding regular season cost them a second straight championship. Even with Stephen Curry not at full health, they almost held off Cleveland in the Finals.
What can’t be disputed is that Golden State was uncharacteristically human down the stretch. In the regular season, it did not lose back-to-back games. In the playoffs, it went 15-9. The Warriors needed to climb out of a 3-1 hole in the Western Conference finals, something only nine teams had done in playoff series history, to set up a rematch with the Cavaliers.
“The last two years, I think, have taught all of us within the organization that, everybody says it’s a marathon, but it really is,” Golden State general manager Bob Myers said. “I think we all have to take the approach that it’s a long road. We’ve gotta have some juice.”
An advocate for maintenance, head coach Steve Kerr was uncomfortable at times last season with the Warriors’ chase for 73. He has learned. During training camp, Kerr is giving certain players lighter days. No one is expected to play more than 20 minutes of Golden State’s preseason opener Saturday against Toronto in Vancouver, British Columbia.
Kerr will scour the regular-season schedule, finding pockets of time for starters to rest. An extended winning streak won’t stop him from giving Curry, Green, Klay Thompson or Kevin Durant a night off.
“We don’t care how many games we win, as long as we win enough to be in a great position” for the playoffs, Kerr said. “Last year, we’re very proud of our record. But we’d rather have the banner that isn’t hanging over there.”
On Wednesday afternoon, after fielding his final question for the day, Iguodala navigated past a scrum of reporters to Warriors vice president of communications Raymond Ridder.
“The clock started late, man,” ribbed Iguodala, master of efficiency that he is. “That was too long.”