NBA Design Face Masks Online Shop - Detroit Pistons

The NBA suspended its 2019-20 season on March 11 when Utah Jazz center Rudy Gobert tested positive for the coronavirus prior to a game against the Oklahoma City Thunder. In mid-October, the league completed the season in a bubble at the Walt Disney World Resort in Orlando, Florida, with zero positive player tests, though there were at least three instances of players breaking protocol.Detroit Pistons

In the lead-up to the 2020-21 season, the dynamic has largely flipped. After setting up that medical review process for Orlando, the NBA is leaving the decision of whether to participate in the coming season -- which will not take place in a bubble -- to each individual. Teams will be playing in home arenas, traveling from city to city on planes and staying in hotels.Indiana Pacers

Miami Heat head coach Erik Spoelstra’s smart game-planning has been a huge advantage in its series against the Milwaukee Bucks in the NBA playoffs. "The Miami Heat are up 2-0 in against the first seeded Milwaukee Bucks. They need to win twice more to earn an Eastern Conference Finals berth, a height that no one saw them reaching when they retooled their roster last offseason.

Several of the Heat’s newcomers have been impactful in Miami’s two victories against the Eastern Conference’s best team but one of the longest-tenured people in the Heat organization deserves credit as well: head coach Erik Spoelstra.

Miami’s two-time championship-winning coach has proven to be a cut above the rest yet again. The culture he fosters in the Heat organization pays dividends, attracting stars like Jimmy Butler and developing guys with few, if any, expectations to be big-time contributors at the NBA level into key starters (see: Bam Adebayo and Duncan Robinson).

While the play on the court is always the most important aspect of the game, coaching makes a tremendous difference, and it’s showing in this series. Spoelstra has run circles around Milwaukee’s Mike Budenholzer. Spo’s decisions have put the Miami Heat in a prime position to take the series while Bud’s have cost his team momentum and possibly the outcome of games.

For one, Spoelstra has managed his rotations better than Budenholzer, who still has a reluctance to play his best players through the entirety of crunch time.

Spoelstra has made minimal substitutions near the end of the fourth quarter. By roughly half-way through the final period, Spo has his key players in for the remainder of the game. Budenholzer has struggled with this.

With 5:06 left in Game 2, Middleton picked up his 5th foul. He was subbed out for Wes Matthews and subbed back in with 3:32 left. In that time, Matthews committed a turnover and two fouls, one of which was a shooting foul on Jimmy Butler, who made both free throws, extending the Heat’s lead to eight.

The absence of Eric Bledsoe in Game 1 doesn’t excuse some of Budenholzer’s rotation decisions. Pat Connaughton receiving 25 minutes in Game 1 and Marvin Williams receiving 21 minutes in Game 2 are huge lapses in judgment by last season’s Coach of the Year."

Last season, Leonard ranked fourth in total midrange attempts (325) and shot 42.8% on those shots, according to ESPN Stats and Information. Leonard has shot 45% from midrange for his career. Paul George shot 37.2% from midrange on 164 attempts last season.

After the Clippers blew a 3-1 series lead and were stunned by the Denver Nuggets in the second round of the playoffs, Leonard said the Clippers had to improve their basketball IQ. Team owner Steve Ballmer opted to replace Rivers with Lue to improve in-game strategy and chemistry.

"It's just that we want to be together on this whole thing. I think it's healthy for teams to have a slightly different look, but we want to talk about how different we want to look."Oklahoma City Thunder

However, Harden opted to work out on his own at the University of Houston, and he attended rapper Lil Baby's birthday party in Atlanta over the weekend and then spent a few nights in Las Vegas. Harden did not wear a face mask at the birthday party or in Las Vegas nightclubs, social events that violated the league's COVID-19 protocols.

For these two Timberwolves who have developed a kinship, it has been important for them to use their NBA platforms even when it’s been most uncomfortable this year.Memphis Grizzlies