Well…it seems fitting that in an NBA season marked by historic DNPs the Thunder will sit Shai and nine other players tonight in Denver. The Thunder have the overall No. 1 seed in the bag and I’m to guess as well Shai probably has done enough to repeat as the regular season MVP.
Denver is precariously sitting in the No. 3 position with but a one game lead over both Houston and the LA Lakers. Looking at the standings in the West I would think the Nuggets would very much like to avoid dropping to No. 4 with the possibility of having to play the Thunder in the second round.
I have no idea how David Adelman and the Nuggets will play this tonight in regards to Jokic and Jamal Murray playing in this game. I woud guess Aaron Gordon for certain is a load management DNP.
To me…it would seem obvious they should play to simply hold onto that very tangible goal of No. 3 to avoid the Thunder for a round. If that’s not a tangible thing at all…then why would you have to date gone pretty much all in with the two Nugget stars and just shoot for the No. 6 seed where the grossly disappointing Minnesota TWolves now reside.
It’s all good for the Thunder right now, like the Iranians with the Strait or Hormuz..it’s the Thunder with all of the leverage over the rest of the league.
What a bummer…another possible marquee NBA game wiped off the slate this season.
I guess I’ll just chill and watch the second round of the Masters tonight on ESPN. That is one thing about golfers…it’s very rare we witness much load management. You have to give these guys credit that given all the torque they put on their spinal cord.
I wonder how many DNPs Chet would have as a PGA golfer?
Take care.
Love, Mike J