NBA often saves its best for playoffs, it's reasonable to expect that again

NEW YORK (AP) – 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. 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." 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 his NBA career before anyone in that trio of rookie stars had even been born. It's true there have already been more blowouts — entering Monday, 261 games had been decided by 20 or more points, and 90 games had been decided by 30 or more points — than in any other season in league history. Those are dangerous stats, given how easy it is to turn those numbers into a conclusion that the overall NBA product is bad. But close games haven't gone away. Entering Monday, there were 47 NBA games this season decided by exactly one point and 176 decided by three points or less. The average totals in those categories over the last decade: 49 one-point games, 177 one-possession games. Are some teams giving up on some games? Absolutely. Did tanking happen? Of course it did. Did it water down the product? Sure seems that way. The playoffs should put all that in the rearview mirror. That's not to say there won't be blowouts; there will be. But at least there won't be tanking. Just look at the games that have mattered the most in the last few days — New York beating Atlanta 108-105 on Monday (when the Hawks' CJ McCollum was a millisecond late with a halfcourt heave that went in and would have forced overtime), Houston beating Golden State 117-116 on Sunday and Denver beating San Antonio 136-134 in overtime on Saturday. All down-to-the-wire, absolute thrillers. That's what's coming in the playoffs, not the likes of Utah losing games by 34 and 35 points in a three-day span, as was the case last week. Denver coach David Adelman is evidently aware the narrative exists, suggesting there's no good ball being played anywhere. Unprompted, he addressed it after that game against the Spurs. "I would say this, just kind of off topic, but I know, pessimistic world, sports, pessimism is everywhere," Adelman said. "I would pay to watch these two teams play. This is very good basketball. They're well coached. They have talented, fun players. They play together. Wembanyama, amazing talent. And then on our side, what we have ... yeah, you can build off this for sure." The Spurs felt the same way. Jokic was brilliant in that win for Denver; Wembanyama was brilliant as well for San Antonio in the loss, and was clearly looking ahead afterward to what that game could mean as far as developing some playoff readiness. "I think the timing of everything is great," Wembanyama said after that loss. "There's no better way that we would have learned. There's no better outcome of this game to learn from for us." His eyes are already on the postseason. Plenty of teams are already pivoting that way, either for the play-in that begins April 14 or the start of the actual playoffs on April 18. Hopefully, it won't take long for the tanking and the blowouts to be forgotten. The push for the Larry O'Brien Trophy awaits. "I think the league is so, so talented and there (are) so many matchups and so many good teams playing against each other," Jokic said. "I think it's great to be a fan of basketball right now."