Some Added Factors Need To Be Considered Handicapping The 2nd Half Of The NBA Season..

The all-star break is just around the corner and that marks the halfway point of the NBA season, not exactly but for all practical purposes…Like in most pro sports as the season winds down you need to take a long at some factors that don’t usually apply during the first half of the season…

1. Be careful of teams that are out of contention and not likely to make the playoffs…These teams will continue to play hard on an individual basis and try to win, but coaching strategies may change…as they may start to look at some of the bench players and giving them some playing time to get a head start on next season
2. Be careful when going against teams that are in the playoff hunt but not having a playoff berth locked up, especially if they are going against a team that is out of contention..They will have added motivation and emotion.
3. Keep a close watch on injury reports. The long season in the NBA will start to take it’s toll. Injury’s become much more apparent in the 2nd half as they were in the first half of the season.
4. Watch closely the teams that have an “older” (elderly) roster as sometimes they begin to wear down and start to lose some speed and stamina, which creates more rest time for starters and more time for the bench players. This is also the time you should for teams that have a strong bench during the first half with a lot of playing time, they will usually have an advantage in the second half.
5. And finally as we get down to the end of the season, watch out for teams that have no incentive to win as they already have a playoff berth locked up and either have home court or no chance for home court. Coaches will invariably start resting starters for the playoffs.

The one plus factor in this scenario is that all the teams have played enough games that should make your power ratings very accurate.

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