In 2005, we were just behind heavily favored Phoenix all year (usually running a few games behind) before briefly overtaking them in March (like the Warriors this year) but then falling back and resting a bunch and acquiescing to being the #2 overall and Western seed. We sat out Tim the last 15 games of the season, he did have a mildly sprained ankle he suffered in Detroit in early March but he was well enough to have played at least the last week or two if we wanted him to. We also sat out Manu a lot down the stretch just because he'd played so hard during the season. We had some awful players playing big minutes in losses in late March and April of that year. We were well on our way to a >60 win season that year but settled for a number in the high 50s and a lot more rest which gave us a key advantage in winning the championship that year.