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New York Times
30-04-2025
- Sport
- New York Times
Does the NBA playoffs have a physicality problem? ‘I think it's gone too far'
By Eric Koreen, Fred Katz, Kelly Iko and Law Murray Before Game 2 of his team's series against the Los Angeles Lakers last week, Minnesota Timberwolves coach Chris Finch spoke honestly about the nature of the NBA playoffs. 'If you look around the playoffs right now, it's super physical,' Finch told reporters. 'To me, they've gone way too far on the physicality. I'm not complaining about the way our series, in particular, has been reffed. I'm just saying in general, I … think it's gone too far. It feels like it's physicality on purpose. It's disrupted the flow. If there's not a fight in that Houston-Golden State series, I'd be surprised. That thing feels like it's on the edge every single time.' Advertisement Clearly, the style of game has changed. Five series are being played at dramatically slower paces than the league's slowest team, the Orlando Magic, played in the regular season. There was a fracas that earned the Nuggets and Clippers six technical fouls on Sunday, while the Pistons-Knicks and Rockets-Warriors series have been notably chippy, with technicals and flagrants frequent. Ask the Celtics about how the Magic guarded them and you might get an earful. The Athletic's Eric Koreen, who has been watching from home, Kelly Iko, who is covering the Rockets-Warriors series, Law Murray, who is covering Nuggets-Clippers, and Fred Katz, who is covering Knicks-Pistons, got together to chat about what they've seen. Iko: Have I noticed? Without a doubt. I've seen an uptick in conversations from folks in the NBA praising this year's playoffs and the amount of physicality allowed or tolerated. And I understand why people are excited. I've used the phrase 'attached detachment' before in an NBA context, but it applies to all professional sports. There's an elation that comes from witnessing heightened physicality (and potential violence in some instances), enjoying the competitive aspect of it while not being in danger yourself. That's what these playoffs have been. I'd be a hypocrite to say I don't enjoy physical play. But having extensively covered this Rockets-Warriors series, I'd say there's a limit. It would be one thing if there was some sort of runway up to the postseason — officials letting more go in the second half of the year — but it's been so sudden that it's a surprise. Katz: I've noticed it, and I am ambivalent about it. On one hand, I enjoy 10 world-class athletes battling for loose balls, fighting for rebounds, knocking others around the court in the hopes of winning a game. Healthy, sportsmanlike contentiousness is good for the playoffs. Advertisement However, the way this is happening has the vibe of last year's midseason adjustment, when the NBA decided to enforce foul rules differently and turned the game more physical with time still to go in the regular season. That change caught several teams by surprise. And while this one has a cleaner delineator (the playoffs are always more physical than the regular season), the chasm feels larger than normal. The sport seems different. And teams and players, based purely on conversations I've had with them, seem caught by surprise in a similar fashion to how they were a year ago. A more physical game can be more fun, but the postseason should somewhat resemble the regular season. Otherwise, what's the point of a regular season? Right now, the gap is wide. Koreen: I want to be careful in crediting the physicality with producing the compelling basketball we have seen in the playoffs. As always, it is how much the players care, combined with the ability for teams to specifically scout their opposition and tailor their game plans accordingly, that plays the biggest role in the improvement from the regular season to the playoffs. With that said — and maybe it is because I spent so much time focusing on the worst of what the league has to offer — I have loved playoff basketball. The missed call at the end of Knicks-Pistons Game 4 was lamentable, but missed calls happen. Overall, the extra grime, which necessitates an extra level of offensive execution, has added to the product. Murray: There's definitely more physicality. And I not only enjoy it, I expect it. Every year around the All-Star break, we reach a peak of conflict to figure out why offense feels like global warming. But nature is healing in the spring! I'd argue players have as much to do with it as the officials. The Clippers were top-five in total points allowed this season. Some teams have already been conditioned to bring out an increased level of physicality. Now, it's the playoffs. There are no back-to-backs, there are no cupcakes on the schedule looking toward the lottery, and there's no lack of familiarity. This happens every year, and I'm amused by how shocking it is for some viewers. Advertisement Iko: Physicality helped Houston the most. It's been their identity for the last two seasons under Ime Udoka. Any team that relies on its defensive versatility and intensity to win games has to benefit from added physicality. Now, it sounds somewhat ironic given the Rockets are trailing 3-1 in the series, but Houston has committed the fourth-fewest fouls per game amongst playoff teams. During the regular season, they were just outside the top 10. It's hurt Detroit the most. The Pistons, like the Rockets, are on the brink of elimination, but Detroit leaned too hard into that brand of basketball. That's an especially difficult task to complete when Isaiah Stewart, the beacon of bullyball, has been out injured. The Pistons have opened an emotional door, getting too invested in winning some of these skirmishes and having less control over the actual basketball going on. Katz: It will help the Thunder the most. Their greatest strength just became stronger and their greatest weakness became less relevant. Despite all the accusations hurled at supposed free-throw merchant Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, the Thunder do not live at the line. It's quite the opposite. No one had a less favorable free-throw differential during the regular season. Now, the league's best defense can bump into opponents with fewer repercussions. I'll say it hurts the Lakers the most. No team goes smaller than Los Angeles and switches more frequently with like-minded defenders. The Lakers led the NBA in free-throw attempt rate; that rate falls in these circumstances. We think of physicality as affecting only defense, but it hits the other side of the ball, too. The Timberwolves are shoving around Lakers defenders with screeners and drivers, creating buckets for themselves. It's a significant reason Minnesota is up 3-1 heading into Wednesday's game. Koreen: Long term, give me the Oklahoma City Thunder, as if they need the help. The Thunder already had the best defense in the league in the regular season. If Lu Dort, Alex Caruso and Jalen Williams are allowed to be even more handsy? Watch out. Meanwhile, this could hurt Cleveland down the road. I love the Cavaliers' roster. But the more reliant you are on smaller guards to score, the more physicality could hurt you. The same can be said for teams lacking depth — the Lakers, Nuggets and Knicks. Murray: It helps the teams that are already physical and embrace physicality. The Magic play the least aesthetically pleasing basketball in the NBA. They allowed the fewest points in the league, while only the Nets and Hornets averaged fewer points scored per game than Orlando. They can't hit the broad side of a barn, and yet here they were making the Boston Celtics sweat out a quarterfinal series. The Thunder play defense like the Legion of Boom Seattle Seahawks used to cover wide receivers. The refs can't call every pass interference and the Thunder know it. Advertisement On the flip side, the added physicality hurts the teams that can't adjust. Look no further than the two eighth seeds. The Heat and Grizzlies gave the people nonchalant regular-season basketball, and got thrown out the club as a result. Iko: Game 4 in Rockets-Warriors was it for me. The first three games felt like it was gradually building up to a boiling point, which happened on Monday night. At one point during the second quarter, my friend Monte Poole, who has covered the Warriors for years, leaned over and shouted, 'Can we just get back to basketball?' There was just so much going on in that game that had nothing to do with anything meaningful. Steph Curry taunting Dillon Brooks, who incited a mini riot. Jimmy Butler and Brooks jawing back and forth, leading to an elbow to the throat and slight shove to the ground. Draymond Green and Tari Eason getting tangled up, grabbing at legs and stepping over each other. Big men Steven Adams and Quinton Post got in on the action. At one point, there were more stoppages to review for hostile acts than made buckets. It was a complete mess. Katz: Let's take the final play of Knicks-Pistons Game 4. Cade Cunningham missed a jumper. Tobias Harris shoved Josh Hart away from the ball on the rebound attempt, which the league ruled a correct no-call in its last two-minute report. The ball trickles to the corner, where Tim Hardaway Jr. picks it up. Hardaway rises for a jumper as Hart closes out and bumps him. Again, there's no call, and the Knicks win by one as Hardaway's jumper doesn't hit the rim. After the game, crew chief David Guthrie acknowledged that referees should have called a foul on Hart. And in a vacuum, Guthrie is correct. Hart brushed into Hardaway when he was going up for the shot, a textbook foul. But here's the problem: If you listed the most intrusive non-fouls that could have been fouls throughout that game, I'm not sure the Hart-on-Hardaway play even makes the top 10. To be clear, I thought that game was well officiated, fair and consistent for both sides, which is the most important part of the job. But when the officials announce after the game that they missed one call at the end, even though that no-call was consistent with the way they called the game all night, there may be a discrepancy. Advertisement Koreen: There were some moments early in the Rockets-Warriors series that barely resembled basketball. As Kelly noted, that continued on Monday. We shouldn't be surprised, given some of the involved parties, but that series started off as a slog. It has been a reminder that you only want to go so far in bringing back the '80s and '90s. Beyond that, while I have some specific complaints about officiating, I haven't found play to be dirtier than in other postseasons. I didn't love Rudy Gobert delivering a forearm shiver to LeBron James' head after James threw his hip into him on a box out, but I don't think that's a huge outlier from playoffs past. Gobert got a flagrant, as he should have. Murray: I love telling people that I was a referee as part of my work study as an undergrad. I know how hard officiating a game is. But I also know players pick up on patterns of how certain refs facilitate games. I'm not comfortable with how inconsistent some of these games get, or how officials have to overcorrect to regain control of a game. I don't like how you know Draymond Green isn't going to get ejected despite putting out a mixtape of physicality that is usually only available on pay-per-view. That's the physicality that crosses the line. The officials have to maintain the integrity of the game. Establish what is permitted, warn players (and coaches) to play basketball, and hold them accountable accordingly. We all see what's happening out there. Iko: It would change how teams approach scouting. There might be more of an onus on seasoned players who play multiple positions and foul more. As far as current NBA players go, the modern floor-spacing big, more of a finesse type, could be phased out in favor of the traditional rim-to-rim bruiser — a world with more Steven Adams and less Nikola Vučević. Katz: Maybe teams would have to prioritize Nos. 11 through 15 on the roster more. This is the age of rest and load management. If games are more exhausting, then it's possible load management or legitimate injuries increase, and that player on a two-way contract you haven't heard of could end up in the rotation. Advertisement Koreen: A more physical standard would only increase the need for physical, multi-positional defenders. Players like that, especially ones who can shoot, are already prized. With some rules loosened, their value would rise. I also think more traditional bigs would gain value, but not because teams would simply be dumping the ball into the post more often. Rather, excellent screensetting would become crucial in freeing up perimeter scorers. The value of shooting wouldn't change, but on- and off-ball screens become so important at this time of year. Murray: That should have already been the case. You build teams with two seasons in mind: the grind of an 82-game regular season, and the grind of the playoffs when only one team will win 16 games. You need skill, but you need the positional size to go with that skill. Defense validates your lineups. And the equalizer to height-weight-speed are players who play hard and through contact effectively on both ends. No one is bringing the goon back to rosters any time soon, but you're not building a team that can't bump either. Just ask the Phoenix Suns how far that can get you. Iko: It can be good, given the right parameters. One of the biggest complaints from people who subscribe to the plummeting ratings argument is that today's game is too soft, with foul-grifting at an all-time high. Dialing some of that back, while celebrating controlled physicality, would do the league some good, I think. The officials have done a solid job in preventing some of these dust-ups from spilling over. Now, you could argue that players aren't really 'about that life' and are just getting in each other's faces for theatrics. But I've enjoyed this playoff campaign in ways I didn't in recent years, and that's directly correlated to added physicality. Advertisement Katz: I'm into more physicality, in general. My only critique is that it should be explicit. I sense that players are a bit taken aback by the enforcement of the rules now. Every rule change for the past two decades has been in favor of the offense. The league wouldn't be the only ones to believe it's gone too far in that direction. But turning basketball into boxing isn't the only way to help a defense. The NBA could bring back some of the old rules. Allow handchecking again or get rid of defensive three-seconds. Koreen: It's fair to say that what is allowed in the regular season has to be closer to what is allowed in the playoffs, and vice versa. As I stated above, there are reasons for the difference in styles that go beyond what is being called and what is not, but we have probably veered too far toward allowing physicality. As well, there's a lack of consistency within games that is troubling, and that is often what leads to melees and complaints. Overall, I think this is good for the league. Give me a little more sense of rivalry, competitiveness and, sure, bad blood. Murray: It's fine. There will be complaints about the game no matter how it's played. If teams were averaging 120 points per game, there would be complaints. If teams were struggling to get to 100 points, there would be clamors for rule changes. Defense is physicality. I see teams playing hard and realizing that if they don't, they get to book Cancun shortly.
New York Times
11-03-2025
- Sport
- New York Times
Bulls, 76ers, Nets or Raptors? Someone must win NBA Eastern Conference 10th seed
Put some champagne on ice: The Chicago Bulls are on pace to avoid losing 50 games this season. At 27-38 after their 121-103 win over the Indiana Pacers on Monday, the Bulls are on pace for 34 wins. That would tie them with the 2021-22 San Antonio Spurs for the worst record in Play-In Tournament history. Advertisement This will be the fifth season for the current format of the Play-In, and the Bulls have a 4 1/2-game lead over the Philadelphia 76ers and Brooklyn Nets (22-42) for 10th. The Toronto Raptors (22-43) also linger. Here's the thing: None of these teams really wants to make the Play-In, with the forthcoming NBA Draft far more important for each of them. The Athletic's Darnell Mayberry (Bulls), Eric Koreen (Raptors) and Jared Weiss (Eastern Conference, including the 76ers and Nets) got together to talk about the tortoise race. Koreen: I don't know if you guys have done a deep dive on the NBA rulebook lately. It turns out that one team must finish in each of the 15 spots in both conferences, including 10th in the Eastern Conference. I swear, it's right in there — and it's that specific about the 10th spot. Weird. This might present a problem, as none of the four teams 'fighting' for the final Play-In berth in the conference is hellbent on getting there. The Bulls, Nets, 76ers and Raptors are incentivized, to some level, to play for draft position. None of them identifies the Play-In Tournament as a goal, with Joel Embiid's season-ending injury cementing that perspective for the 76ers. Is it strange to think the Raptors, who were tied for the third-worst record in the league as recently as Jan. 22, are the best of the four? For one, they were the only team of the quartet to make a move to improve at the trade deadline, although the acquisition of Brandon Ingram likely won't impact the standings this season. They are a positively competent 15-17 since Jan. 1, seventh best (or ninth worst) in the conference. Before their win over the Washington Wizards on Monday, they had a minus-2.4 net rating in that time compared to the minus-7.9 they posted before the calendar turned. (Since Jan. 1, Chicago is at minus-4.8, Philadelphia is minus-6.5 and Brooklyn is minus-8.8.) Better health is the biggest reason for the improvement. If they hadn't collapsed in Chicago on Feb. 28, I'd pick them to finish 10th. Advertisement They have a comically soft schedule the rest of the way. They play two teams that are currently .500 or better. Even if they didn't want to win, they would win a bunch of these games accidentally. That's the rub, though: Going 14-4 to finish the season and sneaking into the Play-In is not in their long-term best interest. So, what's going on with your teams? Mayberry: Go back to our preseason bold predictions from early October. Scroll down to the Central Division. Read what I wrote about the Bulls. Every word has come to fruition. This is just what the Bulls do. For the third straight season, it looks like Chicago will make the Play-in Tournament, as the Bulls are virtually locked into the 10th seed. Their refusal to pick a clear direction — beyond the bare minimum objective of being competitive — has led to such prolonged mediocrity that this entire Bulls season played out as expected. The Bulls never committed to chasing a top draft pick this year or they would have traded Zach LaVine last summer rather than days before the Feb. 6 trade deadline. Additionally, veteran starting center Nikola Vučević wouldn't still be on the roster. And after trading their 2025 first-round pick to San Antonio to acquire DeMar DeRozan, the Bulls had to trade LaVine as part of the three-team deal that sent De'Aaron Fox from the Sacramento Kings to San Antonio just to get their selection back. It's not all bad. There's a blueprint for the Bulls courtesy of the Atlanta Hawks. Last year, the Hawks made the Play-In as the 10th seed, lost their first game to the Bulls and went on to improbably win the No. 1 pick in the draft lottery. The Hawks had just a 3 percent chance last year. The Bulls have a 6 percent chance to come away with Duke's freshman sensation, Cooper Flagg. There are more sensible approaches to rebuilding, but the Bulls' young nucleus is gaining valuable experience, remaining competitive and developing through meaningful minutes. The Bulls can only hope they'll get the same lottery luck that last year's Hawks did. Advertisement Weiss: This season is such a great illustration of why we have the Play-In. The Milwaukee Bucks, Pacers and Detroit Pistons are all jockeying for position in the middle of the pack, and there's a stark drop-off once you get to the Play-In spots. It's funny how we also have a trio of teams treading water at seven through nine, then just a morass of despair below that. The Sixers somehow keep finding new depths in there. Their mission this season has been clear for a while, but it has been underlined in zigzag permanent ink now. Tank. Then tank some more. The Sixers are doing a great job of it lately. Everyone is hurt. They are 3-14 since the start of February. They have the worst defense in the league since the new year. It's just tough to watch. Unless Embiid and Paul George show up to training camp this fall with rainbows and sunshine shooting out of their knees, there's not much hope for the process to survive. That's why they absolutely have to keep their draft pick this year, which is top-six protected. They are tied for sixth with Brooklyn in the reverse standings. In that scenario, if they lost the coin flip with the Nets and didn't move up in the lottery from there, they would send their pick to … the Oklahoma City Thunder. Pretty much the entire league is praying the Sixers pull this off. There isn't much more the Sixers can do to tank at this point. It's going spectacularly well, and they're even getting some development out of deadline acquisition Quentin Grimes and rookie wing Justin Edwards. But we can eliminate them from Play-In contention. Koreen: I'm glad you turned the conversation to the draft, Jared, as that is the thing keeping these teams from going all in on the Play-In. The Raptors were likely heading toward a rebuilding year even before Scottie Barnes and Immanuel Quickley suffered significant injuries early in the season, when their schedule was at its toughest. They've been much better as they've gotten healthier, but the Ingram trade puts additional pressure on the Raptors to get a good pick this year. They have enough talent to fight for an actual playoff spot — top six maybe — next year, so making this year's early losses worth it feels essential. And that's why we're getting incidents such as the one in Orlando last week or Saturday's bizarre scene against Washington, when the Raptors benched all their starters in the fourth quarter of close games. Nobody will say it, but the organization knows it must pull some levers to lose some games down the stretch. That the Orlando Magic couldn't pull out the win the Raptors were essentially gifting them only made the Raptors' late-season situation stranger. Given the state of things for the Dallas Mavericks, the Phoenix Suns are the third-best team left on the Raptors' schedule. Weiss: The Nets are suffering from a compelling case of 10th-seedery. General manager Sean Marks made a deal with the Houston Rockets on draft night to recoup the picks they originally sent out in the James Harden deal. They regained control of their first this and next season, putting their destiny back in their hands before their remaining pick swap with Houston kicks in for the 2027 draft. That gives them two years to draft their stars of the future and then start building into an organically grown contender for the first time in decades. Advertisement The problem is they hired a good coach, Jordi Fernández, who had the Nets as high as fourth in the East three weeks into the season. Marks put the kibosh on that, trading several of their key starters. But they couldn't get the price they wanted for Cam Johnson at the deadline and surprisingly held on to their best trade asset and kept playing just decently enough not to bottom out. Luckily for them, they are still in a good lottery position, but they are still within striking distance of Chicago. Mayberry: Marks did for the Nets what Bulls chief basketball executive Artūras Karnišovas should have done much earlier in Chicago: Sell! By doing his work early, Marks positioned the Nets to have their best chance at a top-four selection. Apparently, the spirit of competition precludes Chicago from such forward-thinking maneuvers. The Bulls have notoriously refused to act on such opportunities. As a result, the Bulls must now be mindful of San Antonio (26-37) and the Portland Trail Blazers (28-38) out West in the race to the finish. Both could lose more than the Bulls and bump Chicago further down the draft board. Of course, Bulls fans aren't sure the front office can be trusted with a high draft pick. In 2020, the Bulls selected Patrick Williams at No. 4, passing on more productive players — Tyrese Haliburton and Tyrese Maxey among them. In 2022, the Bulls selected Dalen Terry with the 18th pick over fellow first-rounders such as Christian Braun, Walker Kessler and Peyton Watson. After their missteps, the Bulls must rethink their game plan, hit on this draft pick and earn back fan trust. The pressure's on in Chicago in more ways than one in this home stretch. Koreen: Let's get out of here with two quick ones: (1.) If your team(s) won the lottery, how would Cooper Flagg fit? (2.) How will the standings play out? Flagg in Toronto would be fascinating, as the Raptors might be the most talented team heading for the lottery in the Eastern Conference. There is some overlap between Flagg and Barnes, especially with Ingram in Toronto as well. I imagine the Raptors would let a year play out before they made any big decisions, and having two versatile, disruptive defenders such as Flagg and Barnes would be a blast. As has been the case for Barnes' entire time in Toronto, half-court offense would be the question. It would be bumpy, but I'd love to see the experiment before the Raptors streamlined the roster. Advertisement As for the standings: (10.) Chicago, (11.) Toronto, (12.) Philadelphia, (13.) Brooklyn. It's hard to imagine the 76ers winning often, but their schedule is far easier than the Nets', which is the tiebreaker right now. And Darnell, are you getting ready to write the definitive book on the Play-In? Weiss: The Sixers and Nets laugh at your Flagg question. How would he fit?! The question is how fast can they rearrange their teams around him? The Nets are an open canvas, so they can go in any direction assembling a team around Flagg. With Nic Claxton, they have the center they need to let Flagg roam free defensively and maximize his enormous potential. They could keep Cams Thomas and Johnson on the perimeter and have a decent foundation for the future, waiting for another star playmaker to shake loose. Tanking might not be an option for them because Flagg is a dream fit for the scheme Fernández found success with early in the season. They would be a Play-In team next year if the front office gave them a chance. If Philly wins Capture the Flagg, that frees it to endure another year of trying to keep Embiid and George healthy and kicking the rebuild can down the road. It's hard to know how good Flagg will be early on, but a lineup of Maxey, Jared McCain, Flagg, George and Embiid sounds like a serious title contender if most of them are healthy. Flagg's role would be reminiscent of Jayson Tatum's in 2017-18, when he went from being a star playmaker at Duke to excelling as a 3-and-D role player for a contending Celtics team at 19. That would be a dream come true for the Sixers, as they would have a shot at the title while accelerating the development of their young core. Predicting the standings is tough. Chicago at 10 is obvious, and Toronto finishing at 11 makes sense, as it has just a little too much talent. The Nets and Sixers are so good at losing right now. But then they have random wins, particularly whenever Grimes goes off for Philly. But since the Sixers are more desperate for lottery position due to the protections on their pick, I'll give the nod to Brooklyn to finish ahead of them on the tiebreaker. I'm not sure strength of schedule matters when your rotation is this weak. Mayberry: There's a running joke among Chicago media members that we should buy a timeshare in Miami for our annual Play-In visit. Advertisement Although I enjoy South Florida and applaud the NBA's efforts to provide fans and scribes like us some measure of competitiveness in the stretch run, the Play-In just feels cheap. The league is attempting to curtail tanking not simply by legitimizing mediocrity but also by rewarding franchises for it. Rarely will any of these Play-In teams make real noise in the playoffs, save for the Miami Heat's run to the 2023 NBA Finals. After three seasons of Play-In madness, I've seen enough. Unimaginative front offices like the Bulls are shamefully using the Play-In Tournament to lower the bar for success. Finishing 10th is now viewed as some sort of victory rather than what it truly is: nothing more than a reminder that your favorite team is the best among the league's worst. I digress. Cooper Flagg, you say? He'd fit great everywhere, but the Bulls really need an infusion of some star power from a player like him. He'd form a nice tandem of building blocks alongside high-flying Bulls rookie Matas Buzelis, the No. 11 pick in last year's draft, and immediately restore faith to a once-proud franchise. I'd be shocked, however, if the Bulls got lucky in the lottery. They haven't won the thing since 2008, when they lucked into Derrick Rose. And since the Bulls remain committed to winning, they don't have much hope of improving their odds. As for the standings, my prediction is: (10.) Chicago, (11.) Toronto, (12.) Brooklyn, (13.) Philadelphia. I'll get started on the book from our timeshare on South Beach. (Top photo of Scottie Barnes and Dalen Terry: Michael Reaves / Getty Images)
