ok, I really hope Paul comes back and is able to finally get that ring. of all the older players left he is the one I want to see get it. he's had a lot of bad breaks go against him and now this.
I think the player resting is a case by case basis. there is not a broad term that can be applied to all players, but of corse that's just my opinion, different people will say different things with analytics these days. I think it is proven that your cardio levels will drop quickly, sometimes as soon as a week if you take time off from running the court. I understand the idea of not wanting to play back to backs. I think if you look at SA it was a unique situation because of the exceptional coach and the amount of mature hall of fame players that they had at their disposal, combined with their playoff experience and knowledge of playoff requirements. Of corse SA were aided by the fact that they had Kawhi to win that last ring.
KP played very well last playoffs albeit with different matchups, and then tore his menesicus, which his recovery bled over to this season. but he missed a lot of games this year after his recovery where his injury status was unclear. it's hard to say what the reason is, it could be as simple as the NBA schedule being altered and he was thrown off of his routine, or it could be that he struggling to hold up for an entire season. either way he did not look ready for the playoffs. At times it looked like he played with high effort, but other times you didn't even notice that he was on the court. Carlisle says his game planning was to not have him involved as much at the offensive end.