Felger: Every other sport players fake injuries to get out of the All-Star Game so they don’t have to go. They miss the last couple of games before the All-Star break so they can say, “no, my knee’s sore. I don’t have to play”. In the NBA they fake an injury so they can go! So they can rest up. So when they get there they can participate in the three point contest and the game. Never mind all the epic next level “doin” that has to be going on there that weekend. They’ve got to freshen up for the party. It’s ridiculous.
Mazz: I want to go.
Felger: And so like tonight, apparently Tatum might play. Smart might play?
Jim Murray: I know Horford is going to.
Felger: So that annoys me too.
Jim Murray: Last night was the night to play.
Felger: Okay, so they’re clearly sort of managing this, right? “Going into the All-Star break. We’re going to give you some time. You’re not playing back to back”. So we’ll play the home Detroit game, but not the one against a team that, you know, home court might matter. You’re tied in the loss column. Boy, you hate to think you lose the Eastern Conference and have to play Game seven in Milwaukee by one game because the guys took a night off because they were saving up for the three point contest.
Mazz: But you’re preaching to the choir on that one. You know, on the one hand, you look at and go “oh moral victory”. In the standings that was a costly loss.
Felger: It could be.
Mazz: That was a costly loss. It’s a dead heat now.
Felger: We’ll see how that all plays out.
Mazz: Could of had a two game lead.
Felger: But what the hell? Look around the league. No one ever plays. You tune in a key matchup and just name me the teams. And I’ll tell you someone’s missing that…Clippers-Sixers. Someone among Harden, Embiid, George, and Kawhi Leonard is missing that game. Celtics-Bucks the Celtics sit half their guys. The last time the Celtics and Bucks played the Bucks didn’t have Middleton. Just name me the matchup. Celtics-Warriors, we almost got it a couple of weeks ago, except Wiggins was out. Every big game you want to watch, there’s someone out, if not multiple bodies out. You can’t get a real matchup in that league in the regular season and it’s a freakin issue.
