The Jazz pitched four starters – Mike Conley (right knee pain), Donovan Mitchell (tight peroneal trunk), Royce O’Neale (right calf pain) and Rudy Gobert (rest) yesterday against the Spurs. Five if you count Bojan Bogdanovic, who underwent end-of-season surgery for the bubble.
That paved the way for San Antonio to claim a 119-111 victory and increase its chances in the playoff race of the Western Conference.
ESPN Adrian Wojnarowski:
Will those teams benefit from the Western Conference play-offs in the aftermath of the Utah Jazz’s decision to sit four starters with injuries and rest center Rudy Gobert in a loss to the San Antonio Spurs?
Among teams trying to catch the Memphis Grizzlies for the eighth seed, they were somewhere between dissatisfied and suffering, sources said.
Winning seed games does not matter much to the Jazz, who are in the tight 4-6 range in the Western Conference. There is no advantage of the court in the 4-5 series. In fact, Utah may prefer to drop to sixth. That would probably mean you face the Nuggets – instead of the Rockets of Thunder – in the first round and avoid the Lakers in the second round. Although Denver could go up and leave the Clippers in the No. 3 seed, and the Clippers are not an easy opponent of the second round either, it is at least a viable strategy for Utah.
The Jazz today also play the Nuggets in the second leg of a back-to-back. No matter what the ideal standings are, Utah absolutely prioritizes its players healthy and ready for the playoffs.
It also can not be lost: executive Jazz lead Dennis Lindsey joined the Spurs organization. That connection certainly caused the strongest paranoia.
Utah doesn’t just appear to put their finger on the scale of the playoff race.
The Clippers will face Kawhi Leonard against the Trail Blazers today and play him against the Nets tomorrow.
Andrew Greif of the Los Angeles Times:
Clippers star Kawhi Leonard (injury management, injured knee in the left knee) will NOT play today against Portland. Decision was just made.
This is the same approach for back-to-backs that the Clippers have taken all season with Kawhi. Clippers also play Sunday.
– Andrew Greif (@AndrewGreif) August 8, 2020
Kawhi sitting today is about timing. He gets two days rest before Sunday’s game (he will play Sunday against Brooklyn), followed by another two days of rest before Wednesday’s game against Denver. https://t.co/IUKayWClAE
– Andrew Greif (@AndrewGreif) August 8, 2020
Maybe this is just about timing. Of course, it’s normal for Leonard to sit in one leg of a back-to-back.
But the Trail Blazers seem to be the strongest team among those pursuing the No. 8 seed. Do the Clippers think the Lakers might want to give the toughest possible first-round matchup? The possibility is impossible to ignore when considering which weekend Leonard is playing.
These are all variations of a common problem: Too few NBA games (or seeding) games are businesslike.
To be honest, the situation in the bubble is different. Advantage of home court would solve some of these problems. The play-in offers a new wrinkle. The long discharge before seeding games increases risk of injury.
But it also feels especially absurd to go to all the trouble to play basketball in the midst of the coronavirus pandemic – players, coaches and other staff of at least several weeks apart from their loved ones – just to play a game a game that a team prefers, or at least does not care, lose.
