OAKLAND, Calif. — If anyone still doubted whether the Golden State Warriors truly would push for a record 73 wins instead of saving energy for the playoffs, that thought should now be put to rest for good.

Playing on the back end of a back-to-back on the road against a hungry team fighting for the playoffs, Stephen Curry played his most minutes since before Christmas, Draymond Green crashed hard to the floor in overtime and the Warriors (68-7) conceded nothing in a 103-96 win at Utah on Wednesday night that left them five wins away from breaking Chicago’s record of 72 wins with seven games left.

“It’s something we want to do,” Green said. “We’ve spoken on this. It’s no secret.”

After spending much of the season deflecting talk of breaking the mark set by the Bulls in 1995-96, the Warriors are now embracing it.

Never was that more apparent than in Utah, when Curry played more than 42 minutes for his most playing time since a double-overtime win in Boston on Dec. 11, Green played nearly 43 minutes and Klay Thompson played nearly 39. The combined 124 minutes for Golden State’s three biggest stars were their most in any game this season.

Coach Steve Kerr, a member on the Bulls team that set the record, was a latecomer to the cause. After stressing the importance of rest for much of the season, he recently changed his tune and said if the players wanted the record, he’d play them as long as they were healthy.

“Our team wants it,” Kerr said. “They’ve made it pretty clear, so what we’re doing is listening to them and trusting them that if they’re injured, they’re going to let us know. And if that’s the case, we’ll give them a rest. And if they feel like they’re perfectly capable of getting out there and that’s what they want to do, then that’s what we’ll do.”

What once was a hypothetical question about whether the record was in reach has become reality as the players have sensed how close they are to 73 wins.

“We realize we can make history and that helps because it keeps you focused every game,” Thompson said. “You don’t want to lose and get this far and not go for it. We have a young youthful team and a great mix of vets that know how to pace themselves. We put a lot on the young guys’ shoulders and go out there and perform every night, and that’s great. We are 26 and younger so we can do it right now and give our vets a rest.”

For much of the season, the Warriors were competing for their top regular-season goal of earning home-court advantage in the playoffs. With San Antonio close behind, the Warriors could afford few slipups.

But with Spurs Coach Gregg Popovich resting many key players of late, the Warriors have a five-game lead with seven to play, all but assuring them of home-court advantage. Kerr hasn’t given his top players the same type of time off that his former coach Popovich has done with the Spurs.

“It doesn’t matter to me how he plays it,” Kerr said. “His team is a little older than ours, too. We are very aware of our guys and how they feel, and if there is a chance to rest Shaun Livingston, Bogues (Andrew Bogut), Andre (Iguodala), then we would do that. … We have a core group of young guys that if I asked them to skip a game they wouldn’t be really thrilled with me right now.”

Making the decision slightly easier is that even with the increased intensity of the playoffs, the drawn-out schedule will give the team plenty of rest.

“If the playoffs were compressed, I probably would be more apt to rest guys,” Kerr said. “The fact is, once the first round gets under way, it’s like days of rest.”

Copy the Story Link