Why do in early NBA games only inexpensive players play and in the late games the expensive ones?

The early games in the NBA usually have only a hand full of good players on the field and the late games got all the good players. Why is that? Doesn't every game count? What about the preseason? Do those games count?


Thanks experts.|||Usually in any game that counts the best 5 are on the court. Preseason is glorified practice and used primarily to get the fringe players and youngsters some reps to see who makes the back-up and bench roles. You do not want to hurt your key guys in games that don't count (see NFL). A lot of times if a key player has even a minor playable injury relatively close to the post season they'll hold them out until the playoffs begin to maximize their playoff chances.|||No preason doesnt count it practice


The reason why the star players dont play as much during em is its a risk of injury so they try out there rookies and bench|||Not in preseason. During the preseason, teams give playing time to the guys on the bubble to see where they will fit in (c'mon now...does Kobe Bryant really need to play all out to make the Lakers every preseason?) on a roster. Besides, if an expensive player plays most of a preseason game, the risk for injury is high and no owner wants to lose their investment.|||preseason is like real life practice. it's to practice against real opponents and figure out which players will stay on the roster and also who might be a starter. no the early games don't count, but they are still very important to the teams, they don't want to risk their stars getting hurt, so you only see them for a few minutes in preseason games