Big-Equal7497 | Warriors

971 | 15 hours ago

Classic game 80+ shenanigans

HeyItsChase | Pacers

184 | 15 hours ago

Seriously 😮‍💨

Wish they’d fix the real issues instead of a (somewhat) necessary evil.

champaigneandcocaine | Spurs

49 | 14 hours ago

Its not even somewhat

Teams like yours and mine can only build a contender through the draft (or very shrewd moves like Haliburton on a trade), and because of the nature of the sport (you need to be very very tall) the talent pool is very shallow so the talent is in the top 5. Look at the last 20 champs. 90% had at least 2 players that were picked top 5. Last champ tanked very hard (and even by proxy lol). Out of the 3 contenders in the West, 2 tanked hard and the other lucked out into a generational star. And yes, lucked out cause if they knew what he was gonna become, Denver wouldve picked him far earlier cause what if another team sees what you see?

National-Ocelot-3900

14 | 12 hours ago

Is there a top 2 pick on the Thunder other than Chet Holmgren? Not trying to “gotcha” you I genuinely do not know. I know Shai was 11th~ and Jdub was 12th

lethalizered | Thunder

13 | 11 hours ago

Nope, you’re right.

Giddey was the next highest pick but he got dealt for Caruso.

OKC’s depth comes from a lot of 2nd round picks(Ajay Mitchell, Aaron Wiggins, Jaylin Williams, undrafted Lu Dort) and even includes a waiver pickup(isaiah Joe)

National-Ocelot-3900

14 | 11 hours ago

Why don’t more teams simply draft underrated 2nd rounders that evolve into starter caliber players? Are they stupid?

Lingbanehydra | Cavaliers

8 | 7 hours ago

You are joking but a lot of NBA teams are notoriously bad when it comes to player developement. OKC arent just drafting the only gems with those late picks they also seem to be able to make them the best version they can be. Similar for Spurs in that regard.

National-Ocelot-3900

2 | 5 hours ago

Presti’s a spurs alumni iirc

HeyItsChase | Pacers

5 | 9 hours ago

Mmmm I dont like you comparing our franchises. Your luck is about 5,000% better and thats the reason you have so many rings and we have none.

But I agree about most of it.

AlternativeRange1852

0 | 3 hours ago

The league really needs to figure out something about these end-of-season tank/rest games, it’s brutal for fans who bought tickets.

UnusualTarget7661

694 | 15 hours ago

I wonder if they just dont care about seeding and are just deciding to rest or if they are actually trying to avoid the spurs or timberwolves

Ready-Constant-7124

391 | 15 hours ago

Surely they’re not trying to avoid the Spurs that’s a far better matchup for them than OKC

Milly-the-Kid | Timberwolves

254 | 15 hours ago

If they stay at 3 they would have to beat the wolves THEN the Spurs THEN Thunder before even getting to the finals

If they can get Houston in the first round their path is much more simple

Ready-Constant-7124

170 | 15 hours ago

I frankly don’t see that much of a difference between Houston and Minnesota this year Houston aren’t that good but I think people are overrating the Wolves big time

KD and Sengun are so disliked that people talk about Houston as a lot worse than they are and the Wolves are still living off their reputation for the last couple seasons

Garrus | Timberwolves

130 | 14 hours ago

If you told me the wolves flame out in the first round I’d believe you. If you told me they end up in the conference finals, I’d believe you too. I just have no idea which version will show up.

Milly-the-Kid | Timberwolves

75 | 13 hours ago

This guy Timberwolves

banjocoyote | Spurs [SAS] Keldon Johnson

51 | 12 hours ago

Overrating the Wolves? Jail

Underrating the Wolves? Jail

Accurately rating the Wolves? Believe it or not, jail

whobang3r | Nuggets

4 | 7 hours ago

The Wolves are very aladeen

Basic_Commercial_806

51 | 15 hours ago

The playmaking from the Wolves is better on paper with Ant, Randle, Ayo, Anderson and Conley. Rockets offense looks rough once teams double KD and force turnovers

McLovinsBro | Timberwolves

12 | 13 hours ago

To add on, yes this team isn’t as good as previous years but they should still get that benefit compared to the Rockets

Recent success and continuity with team are big positives the Wolves have compared to this Rockets team. Also are they getting FVV and Steven Adams back? Because the Wolves will also be healthier too. Wolves have shown us they are a tough out, Rockets have yet to prove anything with KD since its year one

Objective-Product361

8 | 13 hours ago

Either path means you are badly beaten up for the WCF. And Denver likes their chances better to beat the spurs than OKC by then.

holyrolodex | Lakers

6 | 14 hours ago

The big swing factor for me is Ant’s knee. He’s questionable tonight but that’s an injury that can be nagging.

JaderMcDanersStan | Timberwolves

3 | 13 hours ago

Overrating the Wolves? People are writing them off like an obvious first round exit who Nuggets will beat in 5

Rockets and Wolves are both being completely written off.

bobbywellington | Timberwolves

4 | 9 hours ago

Houston is the most obvious fraudulent team for these playoffs, besides maybe the Knicks

Remarkable-Lynx1496 | Spurs

3 | 10 hours ago

The Wolves offense isn’t just “hope KD has an above average game”

Designer_B | Supersonics

21 | 14 hours ago

How? Then it’d be Rockets THEN the Thunder THEN the spurs.

BlueHaze464 | Warriors

16 | 14 hours ago

Because their games always go down to the wire regardless of talent

Rockets are certified frauds without ball handlers, they’re gonna get killed in the playoffs

JaderMcDanersStan | Timberwolves

1 | 12 hours ago

Do people really think the Spurs will make the conference finals their first year in the playoffs?

Wtfitzchris | Nuggets

10 | 12 hours ago

Not just that, but Wemby averages less than 30 minutes a game. I’ll be curious to see how he can handle 35-40 minutes a game, playing every other night at playoff intensity.

Cold-Alternative922 | Thunder

7 | 14 hours ago

Its really not more simple. Houston then thunder and then spurs isnt an ideal situation either. I assume spurs are seen as an easier series because of their experience.

Locksmith1778

45 | 15 hours ago

Denver likely expect to play both Thunder and Spurs, maybe they would prefer to play the Thunder fresher instead of after a gruelling series with the Spurs than the other way around.

Johnyyyyyyyyy | Jordan

10 | 14 hours ago

Exactly this

SolarBum | Nuggets

9 | 13 hours ago

I don’t think it matters much. I don’t think the Nuggets are as afraid of OKC as people are making it out to be.

They took them to 7 games on the road last playoffs. This year they lost one right after Jokic came back rusty from injury and missing 3 of their starters, and the other two losses were on the road in OKC, in overtime (wirh a missed game-winning shot), and another where they lost on a game-winni shot.

It’s not like OKC has been rolling them; it’s gonna be a dogfight either way with the Spurs and OKC (assuming the Nuggets get that far), don’t think it matters in what order.

AspenLF

2 | 11 hours ago

They need Watson and Jones much more for the Thunder than the Spurs.

UnusualTarget7661

18 | 15 hours ago

I mean they might think taking care of the thunder earlier when they might be healthier is the better idea, plus dealing with the rockets or lakers might be more favorable than the wolves

EarthWarping | NBA

9 | 15 hours ago

This is what it is.

makes sense, there is downside of getting the 5 seed, its not likely however not impossible

penguin_torpedo | Nuggets

4 | 13 hours ago

There only teams that have a chance to beat OKC imo are spurs and Denver, but Twolves could take the spurs out if they play in the 2nd round, so 4th seed is prob best for us.

BucketOfTruthiness | Nuggets

23 | 13 hours ago

I think they’re trying to avoid Lu Dort, who has possibly broken someone’s nose tonight already

No-Equipment-20 | Lakers

7 | 14 hours ago

Maybe also a “don’t show our cards” move for if they eventually meet in the playoffs

Any_GarbageReturns

478 | 15 hours ago

If Denver didnt want the 3rd seed why didnt they just bench their starters when they were down 20 in the 4th to Portland? I dont get it

Ready_Preparation816

281 | 15 hours ago

i think they are resting and preparing to be healthy for a spurs matchup for the 3 seed Sunday

_evolkybbuhc | Timberwolves

87 | 15 hours ago

That’s really stupid I don’t think it’s the case

jonsnowKITN

57 | 15 hours ago

Jokic would have to play 20 mins to be eligible to all nba awards. I still have no idea why they chose to rest everyone today. This is really dumb on their part.

_evolkybbuhc | Timberwolves

21 | 15 hours ago

I think they are trying to get on the thunder side of the bracket

everpresentdanger | Thunder

69 | 15 hours ago

They are 0-3 against OKC this year and have a winning record vs the Spurs.

Ready-Constant-7124

67 | 15 hours ago

Also the Spurs have literal zero playoff experience I feel like you’d always rather play a team like that rather than the defending champions in a series

Teams as inexperienced as the Spurs have an abysmal playoff track record every time people claim that this young team is different and they never are

OKC were pretty much the least experienced team to win it all and they still had a year where they lost in the 2nd round as the #1 seed

sorakaisthegoat | Supersonics

20 | 15 hours ago

Chances are they have to play both if they want to win a championship. So it’s a question of playing the well rested Thunder while tired from a 2nd round series vs Spurs, or playing them in the 2nd round after a series against probably a depleted Lakers roster

Ready-Constant-7124

2 | 15 hours ago

The Rockets can also avoid getting the 3rd seed though by resting especially since the Lakers play the tanking Jazz in game 82

Denver have to have a lot go their way to get LA in round 1

RyanTannegod | Heat

15 | 15 hours ago

In order to win the West they have to defeat the Thunder anyway

champaigneandcocaine | Spurs

14 | 15 hours ago

Yes, but there is always a small chance some fuckery happens and another team takes the thunder down and now Denver has an easier run.

shaq-aint-superman

4 | 14 hours ago

Come on now. Only ones with a decent chance of beating the Thunder are y’all and the Nuggets. Might as well take the Thunder on when you’re at your freshest

sp4mpnrj0k1c | Nuggets

13 | 15 hours ago

Rockets or injured Lakers are an easier playoff matchup than the Wolves.

Vegetable_Kale_1331 | SGA

3 | 15 hours ago

So why isn’t the Lakers or Rockets losing games so they can avoid playing the Nuggets or Timberwolves?

sp4mpnrj0k1c | Nuggets

19 | 15 hours ago

I don’t think the Nuggets are trying to lose this game on purpose like everyone on this thread thinks. I think they’re resting everyone for the playoffs. Jokic will play 20 minutes against the Spurs so he can get all-NBA but I expect the rest of the starters will sit that game too. I think they are prioritizing rest instead of seeding.

Will it work? I don’t know but I think they’ve made their choice.

_evolkybbuhc | Timberwolves

6 | 15 hours ago

Basketball doesn’t work like that, suns swept us and we gave them severe BTA in the playoffs. Whole different sport

PotatoFarmar

13 | 15 hours ago

Brother, nobody is going to avoid the Spurs to play the Thunder. Stop this

greenwhitehell

7 | 15 hours ago

No, but they might avoid the Wolves to play either the Rockets or the Lakers. If the Wolves get healthy enough that is an extremely hard series for Denver right out of the gate

Ready-Constant-7124

7 | 15 hours ago

What exactly makes the Wolves so much better than the Rockets other than “vibes” lol

Wolves have been just as inconsistent this season and have the exact same issue with no real point guard

ShowdownValue

3 | 15 hours ago

Both records are misleading. Most of the 6 games against both teams were close and could have gone either way.

AleroRatking | Vancouver Grizzlies

2 | 15 hours ago

Either way you likely need to play both. The best plan is to get the easiest first round matchup

Ready-Constant-7124

2 | 15 hours ago

Denver always try to play 4D chess with seeding manipulation and it never works lmao

chris-dempsey |

11 | 15 hours ago

It did work. IIRC, they avoided the Rockets back in the day. They couldn’t stop the Harden/Capela PNR.

Western-Bet2285

3 | 11 hours ago

Honestly you’re the most annoying type of Redditor. Half your comments in this post are karma feeding and then the other half are hating on the nuggets with no actual basis behind it. OKC rested all their starters, so the nuggets chose to do the same and felt confident enough to get the win because of it. Nothing more nothing less. It’s hilarious how contradictory half your comments are in this post compared to the others.

NewConcentrate9682 | Washington Bullets

3 | 10 hours ago

You were saying? They won the game.

Orod23 | Nuggets

2 | 14 hours ago

Rest everyone vs OKC 3rd stringers and play their guys on Sunday so they don’t go into the playoffs with that many days of rest

Zywooooooo181 | 76ers

67 | 15 hours ago

i think they are resting and preparing to be healthy for a spurs matchup for the 3 seed Sunday

If they lose today, but they beat the Spurs on Sunday, they still won’t be the 3rd seed if the Lakers beat the Suns and the incredible Jazz.

Ready_Preparation816

42 | 15 hours ago

They aren’t gonna lose. Thunder literally don’t have a center. If they’re do, Nuggets have bigger problems to worry about.

terrybrugehiplo | Bulls

34 | 14 hours ago

You realize both teams are benching their stars. It’s scrubs vs scrubs

Ready_Preparation816

27 | 14 hours ago

Thunder are benching their entire center rotation all their starters, and rotation players.

ifuckwithit | Spurs

17 | 14 hours ago

OKC has dort McCain and Wiggins so not everyone lol

FunIsWinning | Thunder

8 | 13 hours ago

Won’t be surprised if we bench them after half

OP_Penguin | Thunder

5 | 14 hours ago

Yeah we got Carlson and topic starting lol. Denver by 8 at the absolute worst

V17R | Thunder

7 | 14 hours ago

Branden Carlson is the OKC center tonight and he’s not half bad, dude can shoot the 3 and decent rim protection. OKC still got McCain, Wiggins, Dort and Kenrich playing as well. I think It’ll be a relatively competitive game.

ThaRealSunGod | Lakers

2 | 14 hours ago

That still means they are making the seeding way harder.

Rockets and Lakers face tanking teams in their final game.

fuzzythinker | Nuggets

66 | 15 hours ago

It’s not that they don’t want 3rd seed. It’s that there’s arguments to being 3rd or 4th seed. So they play hard when they need to. OKC is resting 8 or 9 guys, which means end of bench players. People will call for Adelman’s head if Nuggets send starters to play them and get injured before playoffs. So they let it be a bench vs. end of bench game and let the players decide the outcome.

V17R | Thunder

11 | 15 hours ago

Yeah this is most likely the truth - the problem is you don’t want to FAFO by losing both games and suddenly the Rockets win out and jump you in the standings gaining home court over you.

Hankerpants | Nuggets

3 | 12 hours ago

Agreed, but as tonight has shown, Adleman knows more than us lol.

Vegetable_Kale_1331 | SGA

16 | 15 hours ago

Probably resting for the Spurs. I don’t see OKC Blue winning this game

howbedebody | Nuggets

11 | 15 hours ago

i don’t see us winning this

klaygdk |

4 | 15 hours ago

We’re not winning this. We want to lose this more than OKC cares about losing this.

internallylinked | Hawks

14 | 15 hours ago

They probably think they can beat OKC 3rd stringers with their bench

But OKC 3rd stringers might be better than Nuggets bench

klaygdk |

4 | 15 hours ago

Because Minnesota still had a chance to rise to 5 or 4.

jonsnowKITN

14 | 15 hours ago

Minny is locked into 6th.

Apprehensive-Rain601 | Lakers

2 | 15 hours ago

Nope no chance

joker_prince

2 | 15 hours ago

Maybe also cause once they saw thunder pull this shit it woke them up thinking 2 can play at this game then

mattymaserati | Nuggets

1 | 14 hours ago

They’re avoiding Dort seriously injuring any of the starters.

Lou_Peachum_2 | Clippers

1 | 15 hours ago

Cause they’re helping their homies out

No_Sock1863

3 | 15 hours ago

My guess is they dont want to tip their hand and give OKC experience against them.

They’d rather take the loss and take on the spurs

sp4mpnrj0k1c | Nuggets

7 | 15 hours ago

I’m all for theories but I think you’re way overthinking this one. There’s a good chance these teams don’t even play each other in the playoffs at all.

fisheggsoup | Jazz

4 | 15 hours ago

Experi-… they just beat them in the actual playoffs last year.

jfphenom | Nuggets

2 | 15 hours ago

Except the OKC players who will play in the playoffs aren’t even playing…

ShowdownValue

1 | 15 hours ago

They do want the 3 seed. Okc is sitting everyone so it’s the best chance we have at rest late in the season

toadtruck | Trail Blazers

1 | 15 hours ago

Because fuck anyone in the NW division is why

alex-1688

177 | 15 hours ago

I feel bad for the fans who bought expensive tickets and got shown sh*t

DimTime1

208 | 15 hours ago

You should never buy tickets for April regular season basketball

MarduRusher | Timberwolves

54 | 15 hours ago

Tbh I bought tickets to the Wolves game Sunday entirely because I’m expecting a really funny shitshow.

fawkesmulder | Lakers

23 | 15 hours ago

Hell yeah. Honestly I never mind seeing backups in the nba. Sometimes they’re really hungry talented players who don’t have enough opportunity.

MarduRusher | Timberwolves

8 | 15 hours ago

Really fun to see what some of those guys can do in more minutes in games like these, totally agree. While they haven’t been as good this year, seeing Jaylen Clark and TSJ crack the rotation last year was super fun.

MarmotWorldOrder | Thunder

3 | 12 hours ago

I sat next to a fan of Clark last season as he busted our ass and we blew a big lead against y’all.

SirDiego | Timberwolves

5 | 15 hours ago

You get to see Joan Beringer which I think is absolutely worth it

MarduRusher | Timberwolves

2 | 15 hours ago

Ya that alone is worth the cheap tickets lol

wcooper97 | OKC

3 | 15 hours ago

Going to the Suns @ Thunder matchup on Sunday, not sure what to expect lmfao. I did go to the Knicks @ Wizards home closer once like 4 years ago and got a T-shirt lmfao.

Hankerpants | Nuggets

2 | 12 hours ago

Scrub v scrub games can be a lot of fun. Tonight was a hoot. Was it good basketball? Fuck no. Was it entertaining? Hell yeah.

fawkesmulder | Lakers

10 | 15 hours ago

I just gladly accepted free Lakers tix to the Sunday game vs Jazz. Hope LeBron plays but will be fun regardless.

Your point is salient though lol

lbutler1234 | United States

1 | 14 hours ago

This is the type of tanking/resting chicanery I don’t have much of a problem with. (It’s just math baby, and is a thing even in the NFL.)

And all else aside, I’m a bit surprised the league has the two preseason favourites in the west playing in the last days of the season. As of when the schedule was made, this was probably the best matchup out there, why use an instance if it the week it’s most likely to be a rest fest?

ShowdownValue

4 | 15 hours ago

Welcome to nearly every nba game in the final week of the season

mags87 | Nuggets

1 | 11 hours ago

I don’t buy tickets until I decide to head to the arena. The NBA is not trustworthy.

iaxthepaladin | Bucks

1 | 8 hours ago

I was at the OKC game and yeah. Pretty upsetting.

Status_Soup4407

1 | 5 hours ago

Yeah that’s a tough break, especially for folks who saved up for this game.

Marcus-ichiJo | Supersonics

84 | 15 hours ago

Doesn’t Wemby needs at least one more game? Highly doubt Spurs would rest their whole squad if Wemby does not rest

DrMarvMonror

109 | 15 hours ago

He‘ll get it tonight. The NBA Cup finals count as his 65th game.

Ready-Constant-7124

37 | 15 hours ago

Spurs want Denver to drop out of 3rd so they actually have an incentive to play their guys

Locksmith1778

16 | 15 hours ago

It’s a Spurs home game as well so they’ll want to win to hype up the fanbase going into their first home playoff game in years.

IcyMeat7

6 | 15 hours ago

It’s also the Spurs… who will happily load manage or rest their players no matter the situation. Wemby has 29 mpg this season

I don’t see them playing to hype up their fanbase going into playoffs lol. The only reason would be to try to knock Nuggets down a seed if they really want to but even then it won’t be pushing it like last Nuggets game

EarthWarping | NBA

6 | 15 hours ago

Hes playing tonight

StyMaar

1 | 12 hours ago

Nope, he’s done now with the Dallas game.

heat_fan_ | Raptors

60 | 15 hours ago

Jokic wants that match with Wemby

triforceofcourage | Spurs

29 | 15 hours ago

If Wemby gets his 20 minutes tonight no way he plays against Denver. They aren’t going to risk his ribs to try to game seedings they can’t control

Aidanj927 | Spurs

17 | 15 hours ago

If Denver loses and Lakers win tonight we should play the starters Sunday to drop Denver to 4 and give us Minny or LA in the second round

Razatiger

7 | 14 hours ago

Do you want Denver in second round or Lakers lol?

Southern-Cell7375

2 | 12 hours ago

And Jokic doesn’t want match with Dork.

Head_Vacation4630 | Thunder

61 | 15 hours ago

Touché Nuggets Touché

homefree122 | Thunder

11 | 15 hours ago

It will be an interesting game to watch for all the wrong reasons.

jotheold | Raptors

2 | 14 hours ago

tonight is literally the battle who wants to lose more with this match up and jazz / memphis LOL

i hate that im excited for that game

Outrageous-Maybe-200 | Nuggets

1 | 14 hours ago

Idk what our plan is ngl

lnb3456 | Nuggets

58 | 15 hours ago

I don’t think Denver is purposely trying to lose to get 4th seed I think they know OKC is gonna try let them win anyway.

so they may as well rest all the starters for the spurs game as the spurs will be trying to win

IamcJ | Thunder

19 | 15 hours ago

Makes the most sense actually

Andiff22 | Knicks

5 | 14 hours ago

Yeah I think this is the most likely. I don’t think they are outright trying to lose this game or they would have rested even farther down the rotation, but the path ahead of them is looking to be tough enough that they wouldn’t mind losing if it happens so they opted to at least get some rest and see how willing the Thunder are to give it to them.

mags87 | Nuggets

6 | 11 hours ago

They knew Dort was going to injure someone so its best to not have the starters out there.

saul2015

1 | 14 hours ago

if they were smart they would rest and lose both games tbh

ShowdownValue

30 | 15 hours ago

Crazy how many fans have no idea what’s going on

Okc is resting everyone. This is the nuggets best chance to get rest going into the playoffs. It’s not rocket science folks

dukecityvigilante | Bulls

5 | 14 hours ago

Wouldnt their best chance be to play today and rest against the Spurs? Especially since their starters could make this a blowout and head to the bench in the 3rd?

ThaRealSunGod | Lakers

4 | 14 hours ago

Yes but there’s lots on mental gymnastics in this thread

Nuggets seeding is now basically contingent on rockets and Lakers vs 2 tanking teams lmao

In addition to rockets and Lakers facing the 6 seed and 7th seed, respectively, without each teams 1A star

ThaRealSunGod | Lakers

3 | 14 hours ago

Not really. They’re best chance at getting rest would be vs the spurs.

Lock in the 3 seed tn and rest going into the playoffs.

This is objectively NOT “getting rest going into the playoffs” if they have to interrupt that rest vs San Antonio lmao

JakGrealish | Nuggets

19 | 15 hours ago

Disgusting

EarthWarping | NBA

4 | 15 hours ago

Yeah, teams usually tank the road game in this scenario.

IDK seems odd.

ThaRealSunGod | Lakers

2 | 14 hours ago

Right as the Lakers thought there was basically no chance of the 3 seed. Here y’all come lmao

IcyMeat7

11 | 15 hours ago

They know OKC aren’t trying and just resting? I wouldn’t rest all 5 starters though….

If they really didn’t want to win they wouldn’t be playing long minutes on starters last couple games to get the wins

They might think Spurs will try to beat Denver to knock them down and they want to save starters there?

PsychologicalLynx350 | Pistons

12 | 15 hours ago

Meanwhile the pistons are playing every single player in a basically meaningless game. We need the 65 game rule

u_sijenci | Nuggets

1 | 14 hours ago

60 win season would be nice.

hansislegend | Lakers

13 | 15 hours ago

They don’t wanna risk Lu Dort taking someone out this close to the playoffs. Makes sense.

Holy_cow2024

10 | 15 hours ago

Denver wants the Rockets. My god. lol. Another 1st round exit for KD 😅😅😭

Professional-Play-38 | Pistons

4 | 15 hours ago

I just don’t think it’s a good idea, the rockets are a pretty physical team and playing them will probably result in some sort of fatigue, the nuggets will still win regardless but they’ll be tired by the time when they’re facing okc, wouldn’t the nuggets try and get the 3rd seed to face the somewhat injured wolves?

MG_MN | Timberwolves

8 | 15 hours ago

If Jokic gets sick or something and cant play next game, he loses out on rewards. Better to just play him 20 tonight and get it out of the way

LegateDamar13

8 | 14 hours ago

Nuggets truly dgaf who they play against lol.

jonsnowKITN

7 | 15 hours ago

This is truly dumb because if Houston wants they can still get the fourth seed. They are resting their luck. It would make so much more sense to play starters today and rest against the spurs.

Ready-Constant-7124

8 | 15 hours ago

It will be hilarious if Denver lose to Houston in the 1st round after clearly viewing them as an auto-win

itsnotyellowfever | MEM

11 | 15 hours ago

David Adelman would never be allowed to show his face again in Denver if his first full season as head coach ended in a first round loss to Sengun and Amen spacing because he chose to rest dudes tonight

Parallel-Quality

5 | 15 hours ago

Especially if Houston ends up getting home court. Denver can still fall to 5th.

HellenicHedge34 | Bucks

5 | 15 hours ago

Lol houston aren’t winning. Zero chance

okshow77 | Thunder

3 | 15 hours ago

Blissful

logster2001 | Rockets

3 | 14 hours ago

I see zero way we beat Jokic

Frosty_Salamander_94

7 | 15 hours ago

Interesting. Best outcome (short of winning tonight anyway) for them would be to lose out, Lakers lose tonight then win against Jazz, Rockets win out so Rockets get the 3, Lakers get the 4, Denver gets the 5 but with a layup R1.

ThaRealSunGod | Lakers

4 | 14 hours ago

Why would Denver want to give the Lakers home court advantage and face OKC in the second round?

Unless Jokic and the starters are genuinely ailing this is a horrible move. Literally had exclusive rights to the driver’s seat to determine the rest of the seeding in the west and they hand it over lol.

Frosty_Salamander_94

9 | 14 hours ago

Don’t agree. Playing LAL instead of MIN, even away, even if it means playing OKC before SAS in Rounds 2 and 3, is probably worth it in terms of maximizing title odds. Cleaner path, even if they’re more likely to lose in R2. Going 7 in R1 against MIN would be brutal even if they win; they could dispatch LAL in 5.

LAL -> OKC -> SAS -> BOS is easier than MIN -> SAS -> OKC -> BOS. In the first path you’re more likely to lose in R2, but also probably more likely to win the title.

greenwhitehell

1 | 15 hours ago

Yeah. That’d also be a sneaky good draft outcome, would jump from the 25/26th with current standings to possibly the 22nd

Old_Supermarket_7575 | Thunder

6 | 15 hours ago

Classic April never mind

westzod | Thunder

6 | 15 hours ago

Tbh I think they’re scared of Dort lmao. If Dort isn’t playing at least starter would be. I love Dort but late in the season he’s kinda scary lmao.

trele_morele

5 | 15 hours ago

What a weird system where a higher seed means tougher playoffs. All kinds of weird perverse incentives at play

GuyWithNoSwagger | Bulls

5 | 14 hours ago

Lu Dort is playing, why risk their starters?

RovertheDog | Nuggets

3 | 14 hours ago

Nuggets saw Dort is playing and said helllll no

Superstar_Rezo

3 | 15 hours ago

Plz tell me how Jok needs only single game but not both as one of his 64 games was under 20 mins

Bobskidat | Thunder

4 | 15 hours ago

I think of the 65 games you have to play you’re allowed to go under 20 minutes in 2 of them

Superstar_Rezo

3 | 15 hours ago

Ah yes my bad - this policy requires players to log at least 20 minutes in those games, though two “near-misses” (15–20 minutes) are permitted.

JM15 | West

2 | 15 hours ago

I support whatever gives us OKC vs DEN in the 2nd round with the high possibility of OKC vs SA in the conference finals. Max entertainment.

kjlcm | Celtics

3 | 12 hours ago

Can these teams just respect the $ fans pay to go to the game and play their fucking team???

rawdfarva | Warriors

4 | 11 hours ago

Trying to avoid a Dort intentional injury

sirdez24

4 | 5 hours ago

And Dort still managed to take someone out

Lstark5642 | Thunder

2 | 15 hours ago

I feel like super publicly admitting you’d rather play OKC is not the type of motivation you’d want to give them.

tolzan | Nuggets

6 | 15 hours ago

No. It’s thinking that OKC also wants the Nuggets to win so they are on the other side of the bracket. Both sides resting starters and Nuggets might still win because OKC could throw it.

For Nuggets I don’t think there’s a big difference between: wolves -> spurs -> OKC or rockets -> OKC -> spurs

Mirizzi | Timberwolves

4 | 15 hours ago

I think there is a decent difference honestly. They can sleepwalk round 1 against the Rockets or Lakers and meet OKC on even footing (after both win in 4 or 5) rather than after two likely longer and more physical series against Wolves and Spurs while OKC sleepwalks to the conference finals.

ipoopmyself123

2 | 14 hours ago

why the fk would they schedule this game as the second to last game of the season

4eva_Na_Day | Raptors Bandwagon

2 | 14 hours ago

Honestly I just really hope no unsuspecting parents or wives or whoever just know what they’re getting themselves into when they buy tickets for these last games.

skowpoke12

2 | 13 hours ago

I mean, if y’all aren’t playing why should we. Am I right?

klasik89

2 | 12 hours ago

This is some bs and you know it.

mokacaffe12

2 | 9 hours ago

Honestly, I think all of the reforms the NBA has attempted to make to the game have actually made it worse.

They’ve further devalued the regular season by creating the play-in and they’ve made it difficult for bad teams to get better by flattening the draft odds.

Both of these changes were aimed at stopping tanking. Not only have they failed spectacularly, but they’ve also created lots of unintended consequences (like top teams giving up on regular season games).

--Rick--Astley--

2 | 9 hours ago

Cupcake ass league.

merckx3697 | Hornets

1 | 15 hours ago

People are getting ripped off paying for this.

snuffaluffagus74

1 | 15 hours ago

They are listed as questionable and not out. Unless they have an updated version

ShowdownValue

1 | 15 hours ago

No gamesmanship. Just need rest.

ffxivfanboi

1 | 15 hours ago

Truly, a game of all time.

No point in watching that shit

ThaRealSunGod | Lakers

1 | 14 hours ago

The Wild Wild West seeding race we all expected.

Shai, Jokic, Luka, Ant nowhere to be seen 😂

No starters, anywhere.

Kaladin_Depressed | Thunder

1 | 14 hours ago

Tickets still sky high

R0botDreamz

1 | 14 hours ago

I was just complaining why this game isnt televised lol.

SmileyCotton | OKC

1 | 14 hours ago

It’s a classic ass off.

cactusmanbwl90 | Pacers

1 | 14 hours ago

So where is Silver with the fine?

Own-Personality-3123

1 | 14 hours ago

How much tickets cost again?

saul2015

1 | 14 hours ago

some people dont understand how important seeding is

if the nuggets win this game, they have to play the Spurs before the Thunder as opposed to the Thunder then the Spurs

theres a reason Thunder fans are rooting for Nuggets to take the 3rd seed and beat up or take out the Spurs for them

RepresentativeAd1965 | Nuggets

1 | 13 hours ago

There might be some seeding shenanigans on our part, but I think the main motivating factor is health. We’ve been crippled by injuries all season, and playoff intensity is significantly higher compared to the regular season. It’s good to give the starters some rest before the post-season gauntlet.

unlordtempest

1 | 13 hours ago

Dukes!

SilntNfrno | Rockets

1 | 12 hours ago

lmao and they’re still gonna win the game 😂

xXEolNenmacilXx | Knicks

1 | 9 hours ago

Anyone who thinks this is good for the league is delusional.

Weak-Practice2388

1 | 3 hours ago

Aren’t you glad you bought tickets for this game way back when!

dfs_lineups

1 | 2 hours ago

Entire starting 5 out — that’s a goldmine for DFS tonight. OKC backups getting big run too if they rest guys, stacking could get wild.

ScoobiesSnacks | Nuggets

1 | 2 hours ago

And yet they still dominated OKC with their backups

Per the NBA Injury report, Denver has ruled out their entire starting 5 tonight ahead of a tilt with the OKC 3rd stringers