Photo Credit: Tim Phillis/The News-Herald

Why Possible Injuries Aren’t A Huge Concern For The NBA Amidst The Long-Term Implementation Of The Play-In Tournament 

With the 2021-22 regular season coming to an end in just two days, on April 10, there are still plenty of seeds that haven’t been set in stone yet, especially when it comes to the play-in positions in both conferences.

Just like in the past two years, the NBA will hold a play-in tournament to play out the final two playoff spots in the respective conferences, in always exciting do-or-die games, that leave no margin for error.

Here is how the play-in games would look if the season ended today:

• No. 8 Brooklyn Nets at No. 7 Cleveland Cavaliers 
• No. 10 Charlotte Hornets at No. 9 Atlant Hawks 
• No. 8 Los Angeles Clippers at No. 7 Minnesota Timberwolves 
• No. 10 San Antonio Spurs at No. 9 New Orleans Pelicans 

The winners of the seven vs eight seed games advance to the playoffs as the seventh seed, the losers of said games will play the winners of the ninth vs 10th seed games, to play for the final available playoff spots.

Originally installed because the 2019-2020 season was interrupted due to Covid-19, the NBA has revealed that the play-ins will be a part of the NBA calendars for the foreseeable future, and rightfully so. Fans love it!

The NBA reached a viewership of over 5.6 million viewers for last year’s play-in game between the Los Angeles Lakers and Golden State Warriors, with the other games that were played also drawing a lot of attention from fans and viewers worldwide. 

Yesterday, the NBA orchestrated a very interesting Zoom Call with NBA Executive Vice President and Head of NBA Basketball Strategy & Analytics, Evan Wasch, that I had the chance to be a part of. 

I was curious to see if the NBA is worried when it comes to injuries, especially these of older players, that now do not necessarily have the opportunity to play lesser minutes in order to save some energy and be fully healthy for the playoffs.

Wasch explained that while this indeed is one of the toughest issues the NBA faces, they have also implemented plenty of changes, just like reducing back-to-back games for example, to work against these possible injuries.

NBA Executive VP and Head of NBA Basketball Strategy & Analytics, Evan Wasch on the added injury risk regarding the play-in tournament, and the uncertainty of making the playoffs for more teams until the very end of the season. pic.twitter.com/m2pzgr5NLt

— Len Werle (@RealLennyCarlos) April 8, 2022