Draymond Green: Warriors Not Concerned About No. 1 Seed in Western Conference

Golden State Warriors star Draymond Green says he and his teammates are less concerned with regular-season success as they look to win a third NBA title in four years.

Green told reporters Thursday the Warriors are "not gonna spend the rest of our year trying to fight for the No. 1 seed" and that the team's goal is "to get better each and every day."

John Dickinson of 97.5 The Game in San Francisco shared Green's comments:

It's probably no coincidence the Warriors failed to win an NBA title the same year they achieved the regular-season wins record. Golden State earned 73 victories in 2015-16 but fell short of repeating as NBA champions.

Warriors head coach Steve Kerr thought the pursuit of history didn't fatigue his players physically but rather put a strain on them mentally, per the Bay Area News Group's Anthony Slater:

"We didn't roll our guys out there for 40 minutes. You look at the minutes per game—our top guys were down there at 34, 33. So minutes were fine, very similar to the year before. But it was a different sort of emotional feeling. I don't think we'll have that this year. We've kind of been through that. We'd rather win a championship than set a record."

It's clear this year the Warriors are less concerned with maxing out in the regular season. Kerr handed coaching duties over to the players in Golden State's 129-83 win over the Phoenix Suns on Feb. 12, telling reporters after the game he used the strategy to help the team refocus.

Ultimately, the Warriors will be judged by whether or not they win a championship, so it makes sense Green and his teammates wouldn't worry too much about the standings.

At the same time, losing home-court advantage to the Houston Rockets could make things difficult for Golden State in the postseason. The Rockets appear to be a serious threat to the Warriors and won two of their three head-to-head meetings this year. Houston is also 25-6 at home in 2017-18.