AILSA CHANG, HOST:
All right. The NBA playoffs are in full swing, and the games have been intense. They have been closer, in part because teams have been playing really great defense, really physical defense. A player even had a black eye after a game. But have these games been too physical? Some coaches have complained, saying referees have been letting calls slide, while fans and players seem to be enjoying the heightened intensity. But what is happening?
For help understanding this, we have called up David Dennis Jr., as we often do, to give context in the sports world. He's a senior writer and commentator for ESPN's Andscape. Welcome back to ALL THINGS CONSIDERED, David.
DAVID DENNIS JR: Oh, thanks for having me. Happy to be back 'cause it's playoff season, man. Get excited.
CHANG: (Laughter) Wait, wait. So is this objectively true in your eyes? Have teams been more physical during this year's playoffs than in recent years?
DENNIS: I mean, I don't think this playoffs is much more physical than other playoffs, but the playoffs this year have been much more physical than the regular season. And I think we are at a stage - and part of it is just because of, like, what makes teams successful - and that is we have hard-nosed defenses in the playoffs right now. We just saw the Houston Rockets - they got eliminated. Their calling card was defense, was Ime Udoka as the coach. They lost to a Warriors team who turned their season around when they added Jimmy Butler from the Heat, and they became more of a physical team. They have Draymond Green on there, who we know can be a little bit more extracurricular in his physicality.
CHANG: I also saw, like, seven of the eight remaining teams rank in the top 10 in defense. So could that also be part of why play is more physical in these particular playoffs?
DENNIS: Yeah, absolutely. I mean, what you see in the league, in the NBA, traditionally, a guaranteed spot in at least the finals or winning a championship is if you're in the Top 5 defense and offense. So you can be as flashy offensively as you want, but if you do not have the defense, you're getting eliminated early. We just saw a Lakers team that had LeBron, that had Luka Doncic, that had, you know, five small guys out there, and they were trying to, you know, score as much as possible. Their defense didn't hold up, so they lost in five to a Minnesota Timberwolves team that's just better defensively.
CHANG: All right. So that's why, in part, we're seeing a lot more physicality. But what has the NBA Commissioner, Adam Silver, been saying about the more physical play these playoffs? Is he into it?
DENNIS: He's into it.
CHANG: (Laughter).
DENNIS: I mean, I think everybody's into it because we're having a more competitive game right now. Like, if there's been criticism of the NBA, it's that during the regular season, the players just do not have that intensity from day-to-day. And who could really blame them, right? Like, you see that players get worn out...
CHANG: Yeah. It's unsustainable.
DENNIS: ...And if you have an injury...
CHANG: Yeah.
DENNIS: It's unsustainable. If you have an injury in April or May in the playoffs, your team is done, right? You would rather, you know, rest as much as possible and not...
CHANG: Totally.
DENNIS: ...Go 100%. If I'm going to play 75% in December in a game in Orlando, I'm going to do that. But come April, May and June, you're going to see a level of physicality and intensity that hearkens back to the old time of the NBA when everybody loved it.
CHANG: Yeah.
DENNIS: And that's what everybody's doing.
CHANG: Yeah, I wanted to ask you about that because I have heard a lot of critics say in the 1990s, basketball as a game was just more physical, and then things kind of got soft over the years. Do you agree? And if so, what do you think changed to ramp up the intensity and the physicality that we're seeing in these playoffs?
DENNIS: So without a doubt, the rules were different in the NBA. You could hand-check. You could put your hands on people more in the '90s. The game was a lot more physical, right? But also, at the same time, you'd have a final score of 70 to 68, right? (Laughter) There was, like, some terrible offenses going on...
CHANG: (Laughter).
DENNIS: ...And the game was not necessarily as fun as it is now. Like, the NBA is always trying to find this equilibrium of how much is too much defense or too much offense. Where's the intensity level? And I think right now in these playoffs, we're kind of finding a great mix of all of that stuff, where it's really physical but it's really skilled. I mean, we have seen, in the first round and a half, probably the most compelling few games that we've ever seen to start the playoffs.
CHANG: You're making me want to tune in now. David Dennis Jr. is senior writer and commentator for ESPN's Andscape. Thank you so much.
DENNIS: All right, thank you.
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