Coincidentally, Thinking Basketball just posted a video about players playing fewer games. He thinks it is because players are running around the court more and having to make more sudden changes in direction, putting too much wear on their legs.

With the Mid-Season tournament and Play-In round, teams are playing more games without extending the season, leading to more back to back games. Players are not getting a chance to rest minor injuries before they get worse. In general, the scheduling seems so bad. One week a team will play 5 road games then the next week they will have 1 game, at home. I don't like the fact that most back to back games tend to be away games. If the league needs to schedule back to backs, they should be home stands. A team should not be spending the few hours they get off between games traveling.

As for players not playing 82 games anymore, I think it has less to do with players not being able to play and more with teams realizing that it is better to get a couple less wins in the regular season than to enter the playoffs with an exhausted superstar.