If it were a playoff game

Steve Nash (quadriceps bruise) and Grant Hill (quadriceps-tendon strain) did not play for the Phoenix Suns on Friday night against the New Jersey Nets because of nagging injuries.

"They're kind of beat up," Suns coach Alvin Gentry told The Arizona Republic. "If it was a playoff game, yeah, (they would play)."

Pacers centre Jeff Foster was held out of the Indiana Pacers 95-90 win over the Toronto Raptors on Friday night.

"He's healthy," Pacers coach Frank Vogel said before the game. "He could have played if we needed him to, if it were a playoff game (on Friday)."

"If it were a playoff game" is just one of the many quotes you should expect to hear plenty of during this lockout-shortened NBA season.

If a player has even a hint of an injury, NBA coaches are wise enough to know that this is not a sprint but a marathon.

Gentry further explained, "To risk it, when we're about to go on a trip and play five games, I don't know if it makes sense. I don't know if it's worth doing. (Nash and Hill) are really hurt. To stick them out there and have something worse happen would be disastrous, I think."

There are other such expressions that you should also get used to seeing as well.

Raptors coach Dwane Casey said that the injury to his star forward Andrea Bargnani was a "wear-and-tear type thing."

With this ultra-condensed schedule being such a crazy grind, there will be plenty of niggling injuries keeping players out of action for a day or a week.

In addition to the Raptors, there were several other teams that were struck by the injury bug this week.

On Tuesday, the Warriors lost Kwame Brown (chest injury) for a couple of months and a day later Hawks all-star centre Al Horford (shoulder) suffered a similar fate. Around 24 hours later it was Knicks all-world forward Carmelo Anthony's turn to get bit by the injury bug as he added a sprained ankle to his injury report which already included a sprained left wrist. Bucks centre Andrew Bogut also suffered a concussion in a nasty fall on Thursday as well.

Truth be told, there really is not a lot that can be done about all of these injuries. Bargnani was quick to deny that the shortened season had anything to do with his injury.

"Things like this can happen at any time," he said after Wednesday's game.

That being said, it will be interesting to see how many players bow out of the all-star weekend in order to rest their ailing bodies.

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Another interesting trend to watch this season will be NBA teams' lack of practice time.

The NBA schedule kicked off on Dec. 25.

It is now Jan. 14.

The San Antonio Spurs just held their first practice of the season. Hard to implement plays when you are either getting on and off a plane, or on and off the court for a game.

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Both Casey and Jamaal Magloire were quick to take the blame for Magloire's free throw misses at the end of the Raptors loss on Friday night against the Pacers.

The Raptors coach said he placed Magloire in a position to fail as he should have had Ed Davis and Magloire in reverse roles on the inbounds play

"I take the full blame for that," Casey said afterwards. "I should not have had him handle the ball after Amir (Johnson) fouled out. I should have had it flip-flopped. I should have had Ed Davis at the top. He's the better free throw shooter."

But Magloire was quick to man up and shift the blame away from his coach.

"I kind of disagree. I think I've been playing this game long enough. I think I let the team down," Magloire explained. "I can be accountable as a man and say I could've done a better job at the free-throw line. As a result, we didn't win the game."

But Pacers forward Davis West, who committed the foul on Magloire, said his side was hoping that Magloire would get the ball so they could foul him.

"We knew we could foul if it got late in the clock, but that was pretty early for him to catch that basketball," West said. "I was just trying to make a play on the ball, be overly aggressive. I got a good slap on him but I was just trying to make a play on the ball. We didn't expect him to have the ball in his hands at that moment."

Which begs the question, were the Raptors playing Russian roulette by having Magloire on the floor at the offensive end? With Roy Hibbert fouled out, would it not have made more sense to have someone who has been more effective on the offensive end of the floor on the court rather than Magloire, who is now shooting two of 11 from the charity stripe this season?