NBA: 168 Players Absent on a Penultimate Night of Mass Rest at Season’s End

The end of the NBA regular season took on the appearance of a mass exodus Friday night. During this 81st game day, the penultimate of the season, no fewer than 168 players were listed as unavailable due to injury or illness. A likely record figure that perfectly illustrates the widespread rest trend plaguing the league.

The marquee matchup of the evening between Oklahoma City and Denver was supposed to pit the last two MVPs against each other: Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, the reigning winner on the Thunder side, and Nikola Jokic, three-time winner of the award with the Nuggets. In the end, neither took the court, joined in their absence by all the other regular starters from both teams.

READ ALSO

Thunder Rests Its Stars Ahead of the Playoffs: 10 Players Absent Against the Nuggets

Apr 10, 2026

Nathan Maguer

Oklahoma City Owns Its Rest Strategy

For the Thunder, the reasoning is straightforward. Already assured of first place in the West and the best record in the NBA, team management chose to protect their key players. « If we hadn’t clinched first place beforehand, we would have played everyone, » coach Mark Daigneault acknowledged. « After 80 games, we’ve earned the right to rest our players and manage these kinds of things. »

The case of Denver is more complex. The Nuggets still had seeding implications at stake, and Jokic needs to play one more game to reach the 65-game eligibility threshold required to appear on MVP and All-NBA Team ballots. « We’re all aware of that, » confirmed coach David Adelman, hinting that the Serbian star will be in the lineup Sunday.

Absurd Situations Across the League

This eligibility race produced revealing scenes. Victor Wembanyama, who needed to reach 20 minutes of play to validate his eligibility for end-of-season awards, was initially taken out once that quota was met, before convincing his staff to put him back in. The Frenchman finished with 40 points, 13 rebounds and 5 assists in 26 minutes. « If I had already had 65 games before, I probably wouldn’t have played, » he admitted.

The Memphis Grizzlies took the exercise to the extreme by listing 14 players as unavailable, using only 6 players against the Utah Jazz. A deliberate strategy in the race for the highest possible draft pick.

Meanwhile, Boston tied the NBA record with 29 made three-pointers, while Golden State tested for the first time this season a starting lineup featuring Stephen Curry, Draymond Green and Kristaps Porzingis together, in preparation for the play-in tournament. The evening also helped clarify the playoff picture, with Atlanta clinching its spot and several seedings definitively locked in the East.