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What has come out in the contest between the Golden State Warriors and the San Antonio Spurs last Saturday was more on the disappointment of the fans about the decision of both teams to bench their star players rather than what had happened in the game itself.

What happened to them

The Spurs pointed on the injury list while the Warriors reasoned fatigue for their teams' decision in benching the star players. For the Spurs, Kawhi Leonard had a concussion, LaMarcus Aldridge was ruled out suffering from a mild heart arrhythmia, and Tony Parker complained of stiffness in his back. Nevertheless, as the NBA website reported, the reserves of the Spurs took out the Warrior's other five in a lopsided 107-85 result. The Warriors, playing in their seventh away game in 8 days, cited the direct link between fatigue and game-related injuries as their main reason.

The good and the bad

While it was good for the players of both the Spurs and the Warriors to get to rest, ESPN noted that it left a bad taste with the fans that purchased tickets and traveled all the way to Texas to watch the games. The Spurs and the Warriors reasoned out that it is better to take the criticism for benching these players for a game rather than suffer the consequences later. The league has been criticized for having a very hectic game schedule spread over a short period of time, for example, the Spurs just played on Thursday and the Warriors on Friday just before their game on Saturday.

Balancing act

But the balance hasn't been struck yet because the league also wants to keep the broadcasters happy especially if they have forked over $2.6 billion for airing rights to the NBA. A more spread out game scheduled will mean that there will be days with a lull and they are afraid viewers will lose interest in the game. The Warriors will next host the 76ers in Oakland, California and the Spurs will play the Atlanta Hawks at the AT&T Center.