Word: playoff
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Whether the top players are being rested and can't turn it on come playoff time or whether the team can't get its mental focus again can turn a great team into a mediocre...
That aspect, combined with the fact that the poorer team in the regular season quite often has to play at its best just to make the playoffs, can give the underdog that extra edge it needs to pull off a playoff upset...
Look at the Supersonics, who had clinched the NBA's best record with a couple of weeks to go in the season, while the Nuggets had to play their best basketball to edge the Los Angeles Lakers for the last playoff berth...
...Jose Sharks were in a fight for the last playoff position in the Western conference while the Red Wings were the first Western team into the hockey playoffs, and it was the Sharks that had the extra bit in the playoffs...
...Playoff Notes...