After their victory last night, the Golden State Warriors now stand at 55-5 on the season, and they’re a mere 18 wins shy of topping the Chicago Bulls’ single-season wins record. They also tied the Bulls for most consecutive home wins as they registered their 44th on Thursday night. But there is something that matters more than that.
The Warriors are having one of the truly great seasons in sports history. Not just basketball history, but sports history as a whole. Because of that, only one thing could derail their sensational season. That thing? Not winning the championship. And that’s something they desperately need in order to cap off this magical experience.
From Victor Mather at the New York Times:
But no matter how great a record the Warriors post, they will still have to win the playoffs or be considered failures. The past is littered with regular-season powers that failed in the postseason.
The thing is, this is true. No matter how sensational of a regular season the Warriors actually have, they’ll need to get it done in the playoffs in order to truly take their rightful place among the elite in sports. For instance, the 1995-96 Chicago Bulls ran through the playoffs with a 15-3 record as they claimed the title during their 72-10 year. Golden State needs something similar.
That’s also the scary part. This team could conceivably match, or even exceed, that postseason record that Chicago posted. That’s how good they are. We’ll see how it all unfolds, but Golden State needs a title to truly cap this record-setting season. Or else, unfortunately, they’ll join a list of historically great seasons that ended shy of their goal.