Hear me out… Advancing to the knockout stage and the chance at winning the IST would be awesome. But related to the ultimate goal of a playoff run…

Wouldn’t it be better (technically/statistically/etc) NOT to?

Here’s why I think so (if I’ve misunderstood an aspect of the IST, please say so) :

-With the exception of the championship game, all IST games are regular season games. If we advance, the quarter and semi games would count towards our 82 games. If we do NOT advance, we’d play other teams that did not advance to make up a total of 82 games.

-Advancing would mean, in theory, we’re playing among the best teams so far this year. Failing to advance would mean, in theory, we’re playing easier opponents compared to advancing.

-Failing to advance, by my reasoning, would give us a greater chance at winning those 2 extra games. Think about a nightmare scenario where we advance, lose in the quarters, and then miss the playoffs (outright) or have to move to the play in tournament (instead of automatically qualifying) off that one game?

All of this is compounded by the fact, in my thought process, that winning the IST doesn’t offer much of a reward. Notoriety and cold hard cash are far from nothing, but no draft pick considerations, no improvement to playoff positioning or home court considerations.

All that said… it would be “cool” to advance. But am I crazy to think it would be “better” (from a playoffs odds perspective) if we didn’t?