You can work around the 17 games and tactfully rest at the end of regular season. The lone element you can't work around (although maybe we could take a risk and sit a quasi-injured player in the Wild Card round against an inferior GM/opponent - saving him for later) but don't underestimate the vast difference in the continual Road of 4 Games vs. 3 for Titles.
You get 3 for the win plus consider the 2 week gap of rest between Conference Final and Final.
Screwing around with injuries and making it from Divisional to winning a Conference Final vs. starting from Wild Card is a gigantic difference.
Last edited at 2/25/2020 7:06 pm