The NBA regular season is coming to an end and many teams are preparing for the playoffs. It’s not unusual to see an uptick in the number of players that sit as the season ends, but Friday’s 15-game slate reached new levels of confusion.
Around the league, players sat due to various “injury management” designations. In what was supposed to be a battle between Nikola Jokic and Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, all five starters from both teams sat out.
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“If we didn’t clinch [the No. 1 overall seed] coming into tonight, everybody would be playing,” Thunder head coach Mark Daigneault told reporters before the game. “We’ve earned the right through 80 games to manage their bodies and stuff like that.”
For the Nuggets, Jokic will now have to play on Sunday in order to reach the 65-game requirement needed to qualify for regular season awards and All-NBA teams.
All 30 teams played their second to last game of the season on Friday and will play the season’s final game on Sunday.
In Friday’s blowout loss to the Utah Jazz, the Memphis Grizzlies had a grand total of 14 players out of the lineup.
Victor Wembanyama appeared in the San Antonio Spurs’ blowout over the Dallas Mavericks and dominated his way to 40 points, 13 rebounds and five assists. He only played in order to reach the 65-game threshold.
“If I had 65 [games] before, I for sure wouldn’t have played,” Wembanyama said.
The NBA playoffs are now just days away. With teams clearly making rest and health a priority, the regular season appears to be ending with a whisper instead of a shout.
James Parker contributed to this story.
