NEWS:Steve Kerr says Warriors plan to do more 'experimenting' this season

The Golden State Warriors started last season with a record 24 consecutive victories on their way to a historic 73-win campaign. But expect a little more trial and error and a little less intensity this time around, Warriors coach Steve Kerr said.

Warriors head coach Steve Kerr

"I don't think we'll have that this year," Kerr said. "We've kind of been through that. We'd rather win a championship than set a record, that's for sure.

"Last year we felt like we could do both -- and we were pretty close -- but we couldn't pull it off. This year's more about just growing and getting better and experimenting the first couple months of the season."

This approach is also framed by Kerr's experience as a player on the Chicago Bulls teams that won three consecutive championships from 1996 to 1998.

When most fans think of the end of that run, they immediately summon the lasting image of Michael Jordan hitting the winning shot over Bryon Russell in the 1998 NBA Finals. Kerr remembers the difficult buildup, with Scottie Pippen fighting through a back injury, the Bulls falling behind by double-digits and facing the prospect of a Game 7 on the road to finish their long journey.

"We were running on fumes," Kerr said. "I think the toll was over several years. That's one of the reasons I think this year we're going to pace ourselves somewhat ... but we're also better off having the new blood and the new life, because I think it will give us that boost.

"It doesn't guarantee that were going to be better, but it changes the dynamics a little bit. I think it'll make things a little fresher, and make it maybe a little easier for us to get through the regular season and get through the grind."

The Bulls teams from 1996 to 1998 had 10 players along for all three seasons; the Warriors have only six players who were on the roster for the past two trips to the Finals, five who logged significant minutes, creating a balancing act for Kerr.

Last year, the key players might have played a couple more games than normal because the team wanted to set the new regular-season record of 73 victories, although Kerr said it wasn't physical fatigue that cost the Warriors.

"The toll was more emotional than anything," Kerr said Friday, ahead of the Warriors' preseason game against the Denver Nuggets. "Over time, that stuff adds up. That's why LeBron [James] going to the Finals six straight years is, to me, one of the great accomplishments of all time. Like, how many guys have done that? Maybe Bill Russell was the last guy. I know Michael didn't do it because he took a couple of years off. Larry Bird, Magic [Johnson] never did it. ... Six is incredible."