There’s little that’s more humbling or inevitable than a playoff loss.
18 teams don’t even get the chance to experience it, but of the 14 that do make the postseason, their trip to the tournament is going to end in sadness. The inevitability of it doesn’t make it easier, though, especially since the playoffs have a way of distilling exactly what’s wrong with your team into a singular, season-ending loss guaranteed to leave a bitter taste in your mouth until training camp begins again.
Maybe I’m projecting. Maybe that’s not how the players think of it at all.