Why NBA playoff games are so much different from the regular season games?

Question

Everyone says games in the playoff are so much different from the games in the regular season games why? i mean why are they talking about how teams with more playoff experience get a better edge then those who dont? isnt it all the same when it comes play in the court itself its just another usual basketball game.

Answer 1

Playoff games are different in some ways:
1. More time to prepare, none of the games are back to back.
2. Some teams or players that lack playoff experience will not perform as well. Although this is arguable (Lebron James first post season performance was OUTSTANDING) most players don't play as well without experience.
3. PRESSURE. Pressure during the playoffs is way more intense than it is during the regular season.
4. Teams play the same team over and over again.

Answer 2

The main difference is that a regular season loss can mean nothing but a when you lose a game in the playoffs it means oh too much.In the playoffs,this is where stars are discovered,this where you separate the posers and those who are for real.This where drama is present,where bad blood boils,where rivalries are born.Home court means everything because the fans can give the players energy,imagine 18,000 fans rooting for you and they are very hostile and distracting to the visiting team.In the playoffs only the best and the strongest remain and this is the time where everybody gets serious and puts on their game faces.The players come to play,those who win will get the sweet tase of victory,those who lose will have to savor the bitter taste of defeat and go home.The playoffs is the the main event,the main reason why people play in the NBA.To win the championship.Regular season bearings,records,wins and losses dont matter in the playoffs.Their only purpose is to get home court advantage in the playoffs.In the Playoffs only the strongest and the team that can adapt to their opponents style of play will survive.

Answer 3

There are several reasons why the NBA playoffs differ from the regular season

1. Intensity: Players want to win during the regular season. However, they know that there are 82 games and you can be in the playoff with 45 wins and gain home court with 50 or more. So you can slack a little (miss games due to a sore ego, try to give inexperience rookies some playing time etc.) In the playoffs, every game is crucial because every game you lose is an opportunity for the opposing team to advance and you to go home. Players are more desperate and the energy goes way up.

2. Study time: You play the same team 4-7 times in a week or two; as opposed to 2-4 times over 6 months in the regular season. Hence, your opponents gets an opportunity to study you intensely and gets to know your weaknesses. You have to really compensate for weaknesses and magnify strengths because your opponents has a time to solely focus on your weaknesses rather along with 28 other teams.

3. Pressure: Extra money and your legacy depends on advancing in the playoff. Your promotion from assistant coach to coach and/or that big pay check (from $2 millions a year to $10 millions a year) depends on how you perform in the playoff. The shoe deals and fan-appeal is made or loss in the playoffs. There is a lot to gain and a lot to lose depending on how you perform in the playoffs and this pressure makes teams/players very desperate to win. This desperation brings along more effort to win than you see in the regular season.

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Now, it is easy for me to sit and type this up. However, you need playoff experience- the joy of winning, the pain of losing, the criticism for costly mistakes and the others to be able to raise to the occasion. It is hard to explain but let me give you an illustration to drive home the point. If you are transporting a petty thief from a prison to a court house, you probably just need a car and one or two police officers. This is equivalent to the regular season. If you are transporting a criminal that is going to incriminate both other criminals and cops in a multi-million dollar drug/money launder scandal. You need a massive police force and EXPERIENCE in protection and other things to protect the criminal or else he will have 50 bullets in him before he even steps in front of the court. This is like the playoffs. Same transportation, except there is much more to gain and a lot to lose. Experience counts for a lot and rookies are targeted for destruction by opponents. Why do you think Dallas Marvericks brought back Kevin Willis (he is 44 years old)?

Answer 4

Because NBA Playoff games are just like games in the regular season. There is 8 teams in the Eastern and Western conference playing against each other to advance to the next round of the playoffs as there is the first two rounds the playoffs then the Western Conference and Eastern Conference finals and the NBA Finals. In the regular season NBA teams just play each other to get a good record so they can be one of the 8 teams in the Western or Eastern conference. Teams that have playoff experience will help them in the playoffs as they will know what to do in playoff situations like close games or whatever it may be. If a team doesn't have playoff experience then they won't know what to do in the playoffs and have to learn in the games they play in the first round. I hope all of this shows how the NBA playoffs and the regular NBA season are different from each other.

Answer 5

The playoffs are played at a different intensity level than most regular season games. The NBA season is 82 games long and it is impossible for players to play at full tilt for every single game. I think a lot of players put it in auto-pilot for much of the regular season. It is not a criticism, because it would be exhausting if each player treated every regular season game as a must win. They need to pace themselves in preparation for the post-season. Every post-season game is played with more intensity and importance. Each possession is important and the game slows down a little bit. It is just a much more physical and competitive game. Also, teams have a chance to adjust their strategy between games so it is more difficult to catch them off guard. It is like a chess match, and there are fewer lucky wins. If you look at the teams that advance deep into the playoffs, they are typically more experienced. It is pretty rare for a team of youngsters to go deep. There are exceptions, but usually the more experienced teams have more success.

Answer 6

The playoffs are different because you focus on one team for anywhere from 4 to 7 games. You focus on team tendencies, player tendencies, and as a player, you have to play against a guy who knows all your moves and counters, everybody knows the other teams plays and schemes, and it will boil down to a chess match with players and coaches.

Answer 7

Well, it's more on the player experience as opposed to the team experience. If a player's been in the playoffs before, they're less likely to get all jittery, and they'll focus on the game more.

Answer 8

Because playoffs actually mean something. They don't have a "long stretch" left to make up ground. This is where the good teams man up, and the bad teams are done tanking to get more ping-pong balls for the lottery :-)

Answer 9

the games are different beacuse the players know if they loose they are out. during the reg season if you loose 3 out of 5 its not that bad cause you got 50 games left. theres more urgency, and that makes everyone play faster and more black.

Answer 10

New Season.