during the regular season, you can make the argument that a team runs up the score because once the game is in hand there is little reason to keep putting points up unless you think you'll need them for the tie-breaker (which, iirc, is like 3rd or 4th on the list of tie-breakers so it rarely comes into play).

during the playoffs, anything and everything can and will happen given the right conditions. you've seen it many times. "the catch"?? "the comeback"?? tell me again that it's ok to let up in the playoffs against a team you've already scored 35 points on to their measly 3?