Draymond Green Comments on Warriors' Pursuit of NBA-Record 73 Wins

Following the Golden State Warriors' surprising 124-117 overtime loss to the Minnesota Timberwolves on Tuesday, Dubs forward Draymond Green conceded the team's pursuit of an NBA-record 73 wins has become somewhat of a distraction.  

According to ESPN.com's Ethan Sherwood Strauss, Green had the following to say when asked if the Warriors had gotten caught up in the hype of attempting to chase down the 1995-96 Chicago Bulls: "Honestly? Yes. ... I wouldn't necessarily say caught up in the hype."

Green then added the team is ready for the playoffs to begin:

"

It's human nature to where, all right, kind of ready for the regular season to end. Talking 82 games, we get bored with that after awhile. And that's no excuse, just, I'm always give it to y'all real, and that's about as real as I can be. It's kind of at a point now where you're ready for the regular season to be over.

"

The Warriors are 69-9 with four games left to play, which means they can still break the record with a 4-0 finish or tie it by going 3-1.

Per ESPN Stats & Info, Tuesday's loss to the T-Wolves significantly lessened the Warriors' chances of breaking Chicago's record:

The more troubling issue, however, may be the fact that Minnesota's victory represented the biggest upset of the 2015-16 NBA season based on ESPN's Basketball Power Index:

While breaking or tying the wins record is still a possibility for Golden State, Green stressed the importance of being ready to put on strong performances in the playoffs above all else, according to Sherwood Strauss: "Now, saying that, we got to be a better enough ballclub to continue to try to get better with these games and try and go into the playoffs the right way and not stumble in the playoffs, so, think that's something we have to focus on. We got to try to finish out this regular season strong."

Golden State has a pair of games against both the San Antonio Spurs and Memphis Grizzlies remaining on its schedule, which should serve as good tests ahead of the postseason.

The Dubs have lost two of their past three games, which wouldn't necessarily be a red flag for any other team, but the fact that they have been so dominant in 2015-16 has made it a major story.

Most assumed the Warriors were poised to easily cruise to their second consecutive title, but every team faces adversity at some point, and Tuesday's loss gives Golden State an opportunity show its mental toughness.

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