They will most likely win. But they can win in a way that helps prepare for the playoffs, or not.

Here is the wrong way: Play the starters all 31 minutes by the end of the 3rd quarter. If its a close game, the starters all end up getting about 40 minutes and your bench gets no burn, no development time.

Also, if those starters all have 31 minutes by the end of the 3rd quarter, and the 4th is all garbage time, you still get no real development of your bench. Garbage time is not nearly as useful as minutes in the regular rotation.

So here is how it should go:

The starters play most of the 1st quarter. The starters sit out the whole 2nd quarter. With 4 minutes left in the 3rd quarter, start putting in the 2nd unit. By the end of the 3rd quarter, no starter should have played more than 27 minutes.

Now if the game is close, the starters come back in for the last 6 minutes, and end up at around 33 minutes each.

If the game is a blowout, the 2nd unit ends up getting some garbage time to compliment the time they got in the 2nd quarter.

In any case, you did not just waste another game. You did not just waste another opportunity to develop the bench. The playoffs are upon us. The time is now to develop the bench.

In sum, what is important in this game is how it leads to victories in June.