Here’s a little secret:
The late-season NBA stinks. Aside from a few high-stakes battles between contenders, most games during the final month of the season are pretty awful.
There’s a reason for that. Between out-of-contention teams strategically “evaluating the young guys,” contenders making sure their best players are peaking in June and the accumulation of nicks and bruises over the course of the season keeping key players out, many of these late games will be starless slogs, mere boxes to be checked en route to fulfilling an obligation to play out a 72-game schedule.
But not for everyone. For some teams, and especially some players, these games are going to matter quite a bit, and not necessarily for the playoff race. Even on teams that are otherwise going nowhere, there are games within the games that matter as we head into the offseason.
