Pick: Warriors OVER 62.5 Wins
Some people are concerned with them resting players and not caring about the regular season but I think that's overblown. They usually only rest players against the worst teams in the league which they know they'll win regardless. Or if there's a bad schedule spot which is very rare now that the league has gotten rid of the 4 games in 5 nights insanity. Last season they were clearly focused on getting their players rest throughout the season and they were still on pace for 65 wins all the way until the last month.
Last Month of Previous Season
Like I said, Warriors were clearly on cruise control but still on pace for 65 wins up to the last month. At that point the Rockets had a huge lead in the standings, Curry injured his ankle and it was clear the Warriors were out of the race for #1 seed. Lack of motivation, injuries and DNP's resulted in a 7-10 record to end the season finishing with a 58-14 record.
I'm expecting some regression from the 65-17 Rockets so we're likely to see a closer race for the #1 seed and more Warriors wins down the stretch.
Injuries
The Big Four missed 66 games last season, they only missed 49 games the previous 3 seasons combined.
Steph Curry missed 31 games mostly due to an ankle injury, he only missed 8 total games the previous 3 seasons combined. Kevin Durant may be the best player on the team but Steph is absolutely the most important. Iguodala can fill in for Durant and the Warriors don't miss a beat. But nobody on the team can replace what Steph does, especially given their style of play. Without Curry, the Warriors went 17-14. If he plays 70+ games, that should add atleast 5 wins by itself.
Demarcus Cousins addition
Reports are saying that his rehab has progressed well and could return sooner than expected. It's possible he'll be back somewhere between Thanksgiving and Christmas.
I dont need to mention how good he is or how dominant of a starting lineup this could be but it should not take long for them to build chemistry. His skillset will make for a perfect fit. And he should help make this season more interesting and engaging for the other players in comparison to how mundane and non-challenging last season was.
And the most important factor most people including the linesmakers are not considering...
The Farewell to Oracle
This is the last season the Warriors will be playing at Oracle Arena after almost 50 years. This group seems to have a closer relationship and appreciation for their fans than most other nba teams in my opinion and they will want to do something special. I believe there will be an extra focus to win every game in front of their fans this year.
In this video of Klay with The Jump he mentions "Knowing its our last year at Oracle, Steve (Kerr) has been stressing that a lot...were gonna give our Oakland fans a special time to remember."
This team sets goals each season to keep themselves motivated and I believe its possible one of their goals could be to break the all time home record in a season, 40-1. If Im right and they do accomplish it, we'll have 41 wins and just need them to have a 22-19 road record which they would easily get.
I could be completely wrong about this but even if I am, they're still a historically elite home team that should improve on their home record from last year regardless.
Previous Home Records
2014 (39-2)
2015 (39-2)
2016 (36-5)
2017 (29-12)
They lost more games at home last year than all 3 previous seasons put together. I think we should see a 5-12 game improvement just on their home record which will be enough on its own to cash our ticket.
GL if you decide to tail.