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View Full Version : What are the main differences between regular season and playoff level NBA intensity?



Street Hunger
03-26-2025, 12:48 PM
Everyone knows that the NBA playoffs are more intense than the regular season

But I don't think anyone knows exactly how much more intense.

Some fun questions:

Are there some players that literally just look lazy on defense in the regular season but suddenly are incredibly rugged defensively in the playoffs?

Like how much more players really digging in. 5 or 10% more or is it like an entire huge next level?

Like if I had to guess I would say they're playing 20% higher. But I don't know how to judge something like that, you know? I'm just making that percentage up.

Also needs to be factored in that teams shorten their rotations in the playoffs. Top 8 players play more minutes usually.

Which really has to wear them down. So by the time they get to the conference Finals or finals can players really play a lot more intense than usual if they've already been doing that for two rounds

GimmeThat
03-26-2025, 01:08 PM
I'd probably say in comparison to musical performances, the playoffs is when the fans get back stage access

Wally450
03-26-2025, 01:12 PM
Refs tend to swallow their whistles a bit and let the teams play.

SouBeachTalents
03-26-2025, 01:15 PM
Refs tend to swallow their whistles a bit and let the teams play.
GimmeThat swallows quite a bit as well.

rawimpact
03-26-2025, 01:18 PM
Thank you for your deep analysis of the postseason gameplay. I'm sure you gave this thread a lot of thought; you're asking all the right questions.