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Having secured their ticket to the Western Conference semifinals after a 103-96 Game 6 win over the Memphis Grizzlies, the San Antonio Spurs will have had four full days of rest before tipping off their second-round matchup against the Houston Rockets tonight.
But for some cagey veterans like David Lee, rest throughout a postseason series isn't really a thing to be glad about.
Article Continues Below“I think it gets a little trickier when you do have days off mixed in there, when you do have two or three days in between,” Lee told Tom Orsborn of the San Antonio Express-News. “You have to decide, ‘How much am I going to do on my day off?’ Whereas every other day is very much like the regular season in that you get in, you get your recovery, you get a sweat in and the next day you’re ready to play.”
“So for me, although days off look great on the schedule, it makes things a little more complicated. The last couple days I’ve been deciding how much I want to do recovery-wise, versus ramping up for Monday night. I think it makes things a lot simpler to do things every other day.”
While athletes become creatures of habit after playing a six-game preseason, an 82-game regular season and periodic playoff games — the extra days of rest will undoubtedly help the recovery of most players, having gone through the first stage of a long postseason.
Earning a starting spot in the last three games against Memphis, Lee has only averaged 21.7 minutes per game, besting his 18.7-minute average throughout the regular season.
