NBA reaches the ‘playoffs’ after suspicious punches and defeats – 04/13/2023 – Sports

The NBA’s rankings began and ended with punches — with targets like teammates and a wall. Now, it’s time to play basketball at the highest level.

It is the climax of a championship that feeds on drama, a vital part of its industry and an ingredient that has not been lacking so far in the 2022/23 dispute.

Before the ball even went up in the first round, the Golden State Warriors found themselves in a title defense slump. Draymond Green knocked out teammate Jordan Poole in preseason practice, and the defending champion staggered to advance to the playoffs as only sixth in the Western Conference.

At the Minnesota Timberwolves, the punches came in the 82nd and final game of their so-called “regular season” campaign. In a timeout stoppage of the match, Rudy Gobert assaulted teammate Kyle Anderson in the chest. Jaden McDaniels, frustrated by the poor first half, pounded the wall on his way to the locker room.

Somehow, amidst the blows, the team turned the match against the Oklahoma City Thunder and took the eighth place in the West. This gave him the right to face the Los Angeles Lakers in the “play-in” tournament, which defines the last two places in each conference in the “playoffs”. Gobert, suspended, did not play. McDaniels, with his fractured hand, didn’t either.

Depleted, Minnesota still managed to force overtime, but could not resist in Los Angeles, leading 108 to 102. This Friday (14), they will face the Thunder again, in a clash for the final space of the West in the traditional knockout. In the East, the Miami Heat and the Chicago Bulls will face off.

In the case of the West, it is the end of a fierce dispute for the eight places in the “playoffs” themselves, which will start this Saturday (15). Extremely fierce based on mediocrity, it’s true. But fierce.

With several teams achieving around 50%, there was a great balance between fifth and 13th position for a long time. Two weeks before the end of the first round, only two of the 15 teams in the conference no longer had a chance of qualifying.

Only the Denver Nuggets and Memphis Grizzlies scored above 60%, with at least 50 wins in the 82-game season. In the 18 previous editions of the championship since it was disputed by 30 associations, the West, stronger than the East for a good part of the century, had an average of 5.3 representatives in that club.

In 2007/08 and 2009/10, all eight conference playoff qualifiers reached 50 wins. In 2013/14, the Phoenix Suns ranked ninth and was eliminated with 48 wins and 34 losses, a campaign that would earn them third place in 2022/23.

In this scenario of balance on the table, the first of the competitors to collapse was the Portland Trail Blazers, in 13th place, without quality help for the star Damian Lillard. The Utah Jazz, 12th, went too far after getting rid of its key players and starting the rebuilding process.

What caught the eye was the Dallas Mavericks basically picking #11. Even with stars Luka Doncic and Kyrie Irving, the Texan team decided it was more valuable to stay out of the title fight and enter the “draft” lottery, the rookie recruiting system. Fighting for tenth place – which would qualify for the play-in – was within reach, but management decided to rest several athletes, including Irving, and almost deliberately lose.

It was so ridiculous that the NBA announced an investigation.

Defeats on purpose are nothing new in the league. In the “draft”, the teams with the worst campaigns in the previous championship are the first to recruit young people from college basketball, in a rule that tries to balance the dispute. However, there was no precedent for a club to adopt this strategy with tangible chances of advancing and with two stars available.

“The organization made that decision,” said an embarrassed coach Jason Kidd. “Maybe it’s a step backwards, but we hope it leads to steps forward. These are decisions made by my bosses. We have to move on.”

The Mavericks’ behavior has been called into question especially as the path seems open in the West. There’s no clear favorite, and Dallas could make some noise if newcomer Kyrie develops a quick rapport with Luka.

At bookmakers, most of the chips are played on another newcomer, Kevin Durant. The 34-year-old forward was signed by the Phoenix Suns, but due to injury problems, he only played eight games in the Arizona formation, which also includes Devin Booker, Chris Paul and Deandre Ayton.

There are also chemistry problems with the Los Angeles Lakers, another one included in the favorites list, or close to it. The roster was virtually rebuilt around stars LeBron James and Anthony Davis by the February deal deadline. Out went Russell Westbrook, whose play did not match that of his teammates. Athletes like D’Angelo Russell, Rui Hachimura and Jarred Vanderbilt arrived, and a disjointed group suddenly became cohesive.

By the end of the trade deadline, the Lakers had 25 wins and 30 losses. After that, even with LeBron sidelined by injury for a month, the record is 19 wins and nine losses – third in the league in the period.

Another that presents itself as a candidate is the Denver Nuggets, owner of the best performance of the conference, although the final stretch of the classification phase has been problematic. The young Memphis Grizzlies –from the ascendant Ja Morant, who was suspended for displaying a revolver on Instagram– and the Sacramento Kings had good numbers. The Los Angeles Clippers have Kawhi Leonard. The Golden State Warriors have Stephen Curry.

West is open.

In the Eastern Conference, there appear to be three clear favorites. Giannis Antetokounmpo’s Milwaukee Bucks, Jayson Tatum’s Boston Celtics, and Joel Embiid’s Philadelphia 76ers are the most feared.

Less feared will be the NBA’s drug testing program. In negotiating the new collective agreement between the teams and the players, they managed to remove marijuana from the list of prohibited substances as of the 2023/24 competition.

The amendment was defended by prominent names in the sport, such as Kevin Durant, who has one of his investments in the field of medical cannabis. “For me, [a maconha] clears distractions from the brain. She calms down. It’s like having a glass of wine,” she said last year.

There were punches, there were trades, there were suspicious defeats. It’s time to play to win.