The Thunder plays in Miami on Monday night, and I have a question. How much does the Heat want to win?
Oh, I don’t mean the players, necessarily. Player tanking is virtually non-existent. There’s too much pride involved. Too much competitive nature.
But front offices? Coaches? They clearly play to lose at times. And not just for lottery purposes. Playoff positioning matters, too.
Take the Eastern Conference, for example. We haven’t paid too much attention to the East, which lacks the crazy chaos of the West.
But the East has some interesting scenarios in these last three days.