The NBA needs to address back-to-backs

The LA Clippers took the court without their top four leading scorers on Wednesday night against the Boston Celtics. James Harden, Kawhi Leonard, Norman Powell, Ivica Zubac, Kris Dunn, and Nicolas Batum all sat out with the team playing four games in five nights.

Even though they put up a great fight and took the game to overtime, it was no surprise to anyone in attendance that the Clippers lost to the reigning champs 117-113.

LA opted to save their starters for the game against a weaker Washington Wizards team the following night, essentially punting the game against Boston.

Los Angeles Clippers guard Terance Mann plays defense on Boston’s Derrick White. Mann scored 11 points in the Clippers’ 117-113 overtime defeat to White and the Celtics at Intuit Dome on Jan. 22, 2025. Photo credit: Melinda Meijer/News4usonline

“The biggest things is our players safety and making sure they are feeling well. We have guys with nagging injuries that we have to try to be careful with, so having four in five we just thought it was smart to try and let those guys get some rest and hopefully get them back tomorrow,” said Clippers head coach Ty Lue.

A lot has been made of the NBA’s declining TV ratings, with an oversaturation of threes being pointed at as the primary concern. The reality is stars drive the ratings. If the best players are not playing, there is a noticeable difference in arena attendance and overall viewership.

The Clippers are the only team in the league that has the misfortune of playing four games in five nights this season, and that is because one of their games had to be rescheduled due to fires in the Los Angeles area. Still, players sitting back-to-backs has been a significant problem across the NBA.

An unusually high number of players have been sitting this year because of a “sore fill in the blank” or “illness.” Miraculously, they are fine in the very next game. A majority of the time, these instances occur on the front or back end of two games in two nights.

Players with a history of injuries during their career have virtually become locks to sit out of back-to-backs.

“If I had to guess, I would probably never play back-to-backs the rest of my career,” said Joel Embiid earlier this year.

The league has tried to discourage players from sitting by making anyone who does not play in at least 65 games ineligible for regular season awards such as MVP, All-NBA, and Defensive Player of the Year. Teams do not seem to care.

“That is above my pay grade,” said Celtics’ head coach Joe Mazzulla when asked how the league can cut down on players sitting back-to-backs.

Forward Jayson Tatum (0) helped lead the Boston Celtics to a 117-113 overtime win against the Los Angeles Clippers at Intuit Dome on Jan. 22, 2025. Tatum scored 24 points in the win for the Celtics. Photo credit: Melinda Meijer/News4usonline

Maybe the season is too long. Dropping a couple of games and getting the benefit of rest in an 82-game season is not the worst thing in the world, especially when a third of the league is tanking anyway and purposely not trying to make the postseason. It also does not help that the top ten teams in each conference have a chance to make the playoffs, with the play-in games now in effect.

If the NBA shortened the seasons and removed all back-to-backs, it would greatly diminish the number of games star players miss. Each game would become more important, and they would receive the proper rest to stay fresh during a long season.

The main issue is that owners do not want to give up games. They see that as taking money out of their pockets, but in the long run, it might add to their bank accounts. Ratings will start to rise again, and TV deals will become more lucrative. Each game would become more critical, putting more people in the stands and allowing them to raise ticket prices.

The NFL is the most successful leagues in the nation, and it only has 17 games in a season. Because of the high demand for each individual game, the NFL is able to charge a premium for TV deals and tickets. Players only sit if they truly can not give it a go, and one loss could be the difference in the season.

If the NBA is looking to change things up, eliminating back-to-backs would be a great start.


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