Published by
Sports Illustrated
Sports Illustrated
By Chris Herring Welcome to one of my favorite times of the year. It’s the portion of the NBA calendar when there are only a few weeks left, and the postseason is close enough to where clubs often begin jockeying for position—aka sitting out their best players—to manifest the first-round playoff matchup they want. Oftentimes, only the diehards are watching closely by late March, both because playoff teams are largely known already and because load management becomes a key talking point. I have a feeling we’ll see less of that gamesmanship this season, if only because the standings are too tigh…