and their legs ready for the post season. It happens far less at the beginning of the season.
I do agree though, they want to keep the games at 82 (which I don't think they will agree to less and it will hurt how much they make) which dilutes the value of the regular season.
Guys rest so they are ready for that "2nd season" which is all that really matters. But increasing the value of a game would help that. Still if you are a team like the Spurs of old and you are 35-15 with 10 games left you are sitting Tim Duncan to get him rest for the playoffs. It may mean you go down to the 2 seed from the 1 seed but why do you care?