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The NBA regular season ends on Sunday, but dozens of players appear to be done a little early.
In fact, a total of 168 players sat out Friday night’s game due to either a listed injury or illness.
Among those 168 players were Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and Nikola Jokic, each of the last two MVPs whose teams met.
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Chet Holmgren, Isaiah Hartenstein, Jalen Williams and Shai Gilgeous-Alexander of the Oklahoma City Thunder watch the game against the Denver Nuggets in the first quarter at Ball Arena in Denver, Colorado on April 10, 2026. (Matthew Stockman/Getty Images)
Reigning champion Oklahoma City Thunder head coach Mark Daigneault, for whom Gilgeous-Alexander plays, said his stars “earned the right to sit” considering they once again clinched the top seed in the Western Conference.
“If we didn’t clinch [the No. 1 overall seed] coming into tonight, everybody wanted to play,” Daigneault told reporters ahead of their game against Jokic’s Denver Nuggets, via ESPN. “We’ve earned the right through 80 games to control their bodies and stuff like that.”
Stars to take the floor on Friday include LeBron James amid his Los Angeles Lakers injury woes and Victor Wembanyama, who needed to play 20 minutes to be eligible for season awards and admitted he would not have played if he had already met the criteria. Jokic must play Sunday if he wants to be considered for awards.
Zeke Nnaji, Peyton Watson, Nikola Jokic, Christian Braun and Julian Strawther of the Denver Nuggets sit on the bench during the second quarter against the Oklahoma City Thunder at Ball Arena in Denver, Colorado on April 10, 2026. (AAron Ontiveroz/The Denver Post)
NBA HITS ORLANDO MAGIC WITH HEAVY FINE AFTER TEAM FAILS TO DISCLOSE PLAYER’S AVAILABILITY
With the new wave of load management, a different kind of modern basketball was on display when the Boston Celtics made 29 3-pointers, an NBA record, against the New Orleans Pelicans. It was the fourth time in NBA history that this had been accomplished, but the last time it was done, you only have to go back to Monday, when the Memphis Grizzlies did it.
On April 3, the NBA saw just the second time in history that a slate of at least nine games had an average margin of victory of at least 24 points. The first time was five days before.
A basketball is placed on the court next to an NBA logo during a break in the first half of a 2023 NBA Summer League game between the Portland Trail Blazers and the Houston Rockets at the Thomas & Mack Center on July 7, 2023 in Las Vegas, Nevada. (Ethan Miller/Getty Images)
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All 30 NBA teams played in their 81st games on Friday and will play their 82nd and final game of the regular season on Sunday.
