Why are there no NBA games on April 13? Exploring reasons for Saturday break
As the NBA's 2023-24 regular season stumbles towards its conclusion, a range of teams across the two conferences are still embroiled in a last-ditch tug-of-war to decide the final seeds for the upcoming playoffs. Regardless, Friday’s games meant that all 30 teams now have only one final contest left in the regular season.
However, instead of scheduling it for Saturday, April 13, the NBA has decided to afford players one extra day of rest before the business end of the season arrives. The NBA 2023-24 Play-In Tournament will tip off on April 16, while the regular playoffs are set to begin on April 19.
Thus, after playing their final regular season matchups on April 14, teams will have at least one day of extra rest before their play-in games arrive.
This means that there are no matchups to tune into this Saturday. However, considering the importance of the games to follow and the fact that most teams will want their superstars to be fresh for the postseason, league commissioner Adam Silver and company seem to have made a calculated decision to have an extra off day on Saturday.
Furthermore, all 30 teams are set to have their final regular season game on Sunday, a bit of a final blowout to the regular season. An off-day is a bit of a rarity when it comes to the final stretch of the season as far as the league is concerned. However, Saturday marks the second time in less than a week that the NBA has had no fixtures on a given date.
Previously, the league had cleared April 8 fixtures to free the networks for the NCAA Tournament national championship game. Several NBA stars were seen watching the contest as the UConn Huskies blew past the Purdue Boilermakers in a 75-60 win.
In a nutshell, the off-day gives NBA superstars an extra day of rest, in addition to April 15 (Monday), before the postseason of the 2023-24 NBA season gets underway.
Multiple NBA teams to slug it out on final day of regular season
There are multiple scenarios still left to play out with respect to both conferences. In the East, the likes of the Orlando Magic, Indiana Pacers and Philadelphia 76ers are all tied at 46-35, and the final-day results will decide who finishes sixth.
The Pacers will play the Atlanta Hawks, the 76ers might find things straightforward against the Brooklyn Nets and the Magic will be up against the Milwaukee Bucks on Sunday. Magic will have a mammoth task at home and might as well be overtaken by the Miami Heat. Jimmy Butler and Co. are just a game behind on 45-36 and take on the Toronto Raptors on the final day of the regular season.
In the West, the Golden State Warriors, Sacramento Kings and LA Lakers will fight it out for the eighth seed. The Lakers made things difficult for themselves against the Grizzlies but made full use of the defeats suffered by their rivals. The Lakers can now clinch the eighth seed with a win over the New Orleans Pelicans on the road.
Stephen Curry and the Warriors, after a decent run in recent weeks, have gone 2-3 in the last five games and now need multiple favorable outcomes to avoid a ninth-10th finish. Regardless, with multiple scenarios still set to play out, fans can expect a cracking final day of the season.
Of course, things will only get headier from there, as multiple heavyweights are sure to land in the play-in, leading to what is expected to be one of the most entertaining playoffs of all time, considering the sheer number of quality teams in the mix.