Quest for 73 wins becomes a taboo topic for Warriors

OAKLAND, Calif. — Though Golden State went into Thursday night’s game on pace to match last season’s 73 wins, the Warriors have downplayed their recordsetting pace and said they will continue to do so even if they keep winning.

Asked if it feels as if they are on a 73-win pace again, Warriors forward Draymond Green said, “No, no, absolutely not.

“(It) feels like we won 12 in a row,” he said. “That’s about it. I don’t know what the number 73 means. “No, not at all.” Last season, the Warriors embraced the chase for the NBA record. This season, the plan is to ignore discussions about the topic.

“Absolutely, because this year we don’t care about it,” Green said. “Last year, the whole idea of doing it was like, ‘Wow, it would be dope.’ This year, I have no interest at all. I have interest in trying to get homecourt advantage but not 73 wins.

“Nobody is running from attention because we don’t pay attention to it anyway. It’s going to be there regardless. If we lose a game, attention is going to be there. Attention ain’t going away. We’re not going to lose any game on purpose to hide from attention.

“We’re just going to try to win as many games as we can and try to get better each and every time we step on the floor. That’s our main goal.”

Nene resting up for Nuggets

The Rockets held veteran center Nene out of Thursday’s game because it was a part of a back-toback. They opted to have him play in Denver, rather than against the Warriors, because Nene spent the first nine-plus seasons of his career with the Nuggets.

With Nene sitting out, Montrezl Harrell moved up as the Rockets’ backup center.

“We would like to do less switching (against the Warriors), and Montrezl is better suited for that,” Rockets coach Mike D’Antoni said. “Probably

because Denver has bigger bodies, Nene is more suited for that.”

The Nuggets start 7-0, 280-pound Jusuf Nurkic.

Curry wants to send message

Despite 18 meetings with the Rockets in the two seasons prior to Thursday’s game, Golden State guard Stephen Curry had no special animosity for the team the Warriors had eliminated the past two postseasons.

But Curry did think there was value in making a statement in the regular season given the potential for matchups in the postseason.

“There’s a familiarity obviously, because you play high intensity and meaningful games against a team,” Curry said. “We played them two years in a row. We know year-to-year teams that are most likely playoff bound and kind of have an understanding of what it’s going to take to beat those kind of teams, not only in the regular season but in the playoffs. You kind of want to have good showings against those kind of teams, try to send a message in case you do see them later on.”

Heading into Thursday’s game, the Warriors had won the past eight regular-season meetings and eight of 10 postseason matchups. Curry said the Rockets do not seem to have changed much, other than having the ball in James Harden’s hands more and putting better shooting on the floor with him.

“They play a very similar style that they always have, up-tempo, shoot a lot of 3s,” Curry said. “Obviously, they feature James in a lot of the decision-making situations, keep the ball in his hands to initiate plays. More so than ever against them, you have to be on the same page because one breakdown can lead to a wide-open 3 for a lot of capable shooters, and they like to shoot them.

“If … they get hot, or … get open looks, it can be a long night.”