Prior to last night, Golden State was -320 to beat the NBA record of 72 wins. The markets expected them to cruise to the record, perhaps losing @ Spurs, but winning their other games and finishing with 73 wins.
Golden State was -130 to win the Chamionship, take back +110 on the Field at the Westgate. The Warriors were a solid favorite to win the title, and with good reason.
Fast Forward 24 hours, and things have changed. Golden State is now a big dog to set the record. More significantly, they are down to a -120 favorite to win the title, and there appears to be very real concerns that chasing the wins record may have compromised the team.
After going undefeated at home for over a year, the Warriors have now dropped two home games, both of which they were big favorites. They looked like they had tired legs when they lost to Boston, and that appeared to be the case last night losing to Minnesota. In the game last night, they had the final possession in regulation with the game tied, and it was one of the worst last 10 seconds you will ever see, with Golden State struggling mightily to get a shot off.
You don't want to over react to any one game, but it is very clear that this wins record is really hurting this team. Golden State has simply not taken ANY nights off during the season. This is going to have them going into the playoffs at a disadvantage, especially considering the top 4 teams in the West have had their seeds locked in pretty much all year. The Clippers, OKC, and the Spurs have all taken nights off.......
One can argue that the Clippers are simply not good enough to beat Golden State, and the OKC/SA series will likely take a great deal out of the winner. Given that, the Warriors will likely get to the Finals. However, they are a tired team right now, and they clearly should just forget the wins record, lock in the no1 seed and start resting players.
On the handicapping front, I am in action with my NBA GAME OF THE WEEK, I have isolated one key play, and FIRED a rare 3* play on it:
http://bit.ly/1dO56ZY