The NBA often saves its best basketball for the playoffs. It’s reasonable to expect that again

The NBA, typically, saves its best for last.

Here’s hoping that rings true again this spring.

You may have noticed there’s a lot of bad basketball out there right now. Blowouts are happening with record-setting regularity. Some teams are tanking, which is forcing the NBA’s hand to make changes to the lottery system. There are some coaches whose jobs are likely in jeopardy; Chicago’s front office has already been gutted. And Giannis Antetokounmpo says he and the Milwaukee Bucks need couples therapy, which isn’t a great sign for any future they might have together.

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Obviously, none of that is good.

But perhaps the real problem here is those storylines — all of which are valid — are overshadowing what is good as the NBA gets set for its best time of year, the playoffs.

Defending champion Oklahoma City is about to clinch another No. 1 seed in the Western Conference, topping the 60-win mark again to hold off Victor Wembanyama and an upstart San Antonio team that looks very much like a title contender. Detroit has gone from a laughingstock to a No. 1 seed in the Eastern Conference, and needed only two seasons to complete that ascent.

“Reflect on where we’ve been, reflect on the work that we’ve put in to get here, but understanding that this isn’t the finish,” Pistons coach J.B. Bickerstaff said. “To grow the way this group has grown together, as quickly as it has, it is special. But we’ve got more food to eat.”

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Scoring around the league is at its highest clip in more than half a century. Stephen Curry has returned from injury to see if he can spark some postseason magic with Golden State. The coach of the year race might be wide open. The MVP race has tons of intrigue. Wembanyama and Denver’s Nikola Jokic just waged an epic battle this past weekend, as did Dallas rookie Cooper Flagg and the Los Angeles Lakers’ LeBron James — who came away raving about the league’s top freshmen like Flagg, Charlotte’s Kon Knueppel and Philadelphia’s VJ Edgecombe.

“League’s in good hands with those rooks,” said James, perhaps a passing-of-the-torch sort of sentiment from a 41-year-old who started…

Source link : https://sports.yahoo.com/articles/nba-often-saves-best-basketball-063510665.html

Author : TIM REYNOLDS

Publish date : 2026-04-07 06:35:00

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