It’s a common axiom in NBA circles that the best ability is availability. In the marathon that is the NBA season, contending teams have, for years, employed strategic recovery days during the regular season — aka load management — in the interest of prioritizing player health for the title quest. Nothing is more important than staying healthy. So far, this injury-riddled postseason holds up as Exhibit A to bolster that theory.
Teams with NBA Finals aspirations have been crushed by ill-timed injuries. Cleveland star Donovan Mitchell stood on the sideline in a lavender sweatsuit with a debilitating calf strain that sidelined him for the season-ending Game 5 against the Boston Celtics.