The Brooklyn Nets sat six players for Wednesday's regular-season finale against the Chicago Bulls, who advanced to the playoffs with a 112-73 victory.
The Nets announced Trevor Booker, Jeremy Lin and Brook Lopez would all sit out to rest, while injuries sidelined Quincy Acy (ankle), Joe Harris (shoulder) and Sean Kilpatrick (hamstring).
On Wednesday, Nets coach Kenny Atkinson said the decision was made with the best interests of his team in mind.
"I'm going to be honest with you, as a competitor, I understand [the frustration with the decision]. I understand the point of view that some of you have and some of the press has and maybe other teams in this league [have]. I do understand it," Atkinson said. "But again, I think we do have to look at it from the [point of view of the] Brooklyn Nets franchise and what's best for us. And that's how we're looking at it in a vacuum. I think that's my responsibility as a coach, to look at it in that vein, but that being said, yes, I do understand it."
The path to the playoffs was simple for the Bulls -- win and they're in. The Indiana Pacers will also head to the postseason with their win at home against the Atlanta Hawks, while the Miami Heat were left out despite a victory over the Washington Wizards.
The NBA playoffs begin Saturday afternoon.
In a tweet sent before the Nets had publicly announced their lineup intentions for Wednesday, Heat owner Micky Arison said he hoped his squad was focused on closing out the regular season with a victory.
#HEATNation forget what other teams are doing...Let's make tomorrow night amazing. Win & 30 & 11 for the second half. So proud of this team!
— Micky Arison (@MickyArison) April 11, 2017
Dwyane Wade said Wednesday that he hasn't spoken to anybody from the Heat organization.
"I don't care," Wade said about the Nets resting players. "I have nothing to do with that. Just got to focus on the Chicago Bulls and getting a win. That's all we care about."
"NBA players are showing up," he added. "Teams have lost to guys when they've rested a lot of players of late. So we have to go out there and win our ballgame. It doesn't matter who's on the court. They've got an NBA jersey, they're NBA players, you respect them as that."
ESPN's Nick Friedell contributed to this report.
