The NBA regular season ends Sunday, but dozens of players appear to have wrapped up a bit early.
In fact, 168 total players sat out games Friday night due to either a listed injury or illness.
Among those 168 players were Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and Nikola Jokić, the last two league MVPs whose teams faced off against one another.
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Reigning champion Oklahoma City Thunder head coach Mark Daigneault, whom Gilgeous-Alexander plays for, said his stars “earned the right to sit” considering they again snagged the top seed in the Western Conference.
“If we didn’t clinch [the No. 1 overall seed] coming into tonight, everybody would be playing,” Daigneault told reporters ahead of a game against Jokic’s Denver Nuggets, via ESPN.
“We’ve earned the right through 80 games to manage their bodies and stuff like that.”
Stars to take the floor on Friday included LeBron James amid his Los Angeles Lakers’ injury woes and Victor Wembanyama, who needed to play 20 minutes to be eligible for season awards and admitted he would not have played if he had already met the criteria. Jokic must play Sunday if he wants to be considered for awards.
With the new wave of load management, another form of today’s basketball was on display as the Boston Celtics made 29 3-pointers, tying an NBA record, against the New Orleans Pelicans. It was the fourth time in the history of the NBA this had been accomplished.
The Memphis Grizzlies converted 29 on Monday.
On April 3, at least nine games had an average margin of victory of at least 24 points for the second time in league history. The first time was five days earlier.
All 30 NBA teams played in their 81st games Friday and will play in their 82nd and final games of the regular season Sunday.
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