## 4 Discussion
\begin{table}
\begin{tabular}{c c c c c c c c c c} \hline \hline
**Outcomes** & **Day** & **Games** & \multicolumn{6}{c}{**Average**} & \multicolumn{6}{c}{**60 s PD**} \\ \cline{3-10}  & & & **Estimate** & **SE** & **95\% CI** & **Estimate** & **SE** & **95\% CI** \\ \hline  & Sat & 1 & 0.77 & 0.2 & 0.4 & 1.4 & 4.3 & 0.8 & 2.6 & 5.9 \\ DEC & Sun & 1 & 0.81 & 0.1 & 0.6 & 1.1 & 3.8 & 0.6 & 2.7 & 4.9 \\ (n\(\cdot\)min\({}^{-1}\)) & Sat & 2 & 0.56 & 0.1 & 0.4 & 0.8 & 3.1 & 0.6 & 1.9 & 4.3 \\  & Sun & 2 & 0.49 & 0.1 & 0.3 & 0.7 & 3.7 & 0.5 & 2.7 & 4.7 \\ \hline  & Sat & 1 & 11.5 \# & 1.5 & 8.0 & 14.9 & & & & \\ Wellness & Sun & 1 & 7.4 & 0.9 & 5.1 & 9.6 & & & \\ (arb. U.) & Sat & 2 & 10.3 \# & 1.0 & 8.2 & 12.4 & & & \\  & Sun & 2 & 9.0 & 0.6 & 7.8 & 10.3 & & & \\ \hline  & & \multicolumn{6}{c}{Notes: * different from 2 games (\(p\) < 0.05); \# different from Sunday (\(p\) < 0.05). ACC: maximal accelerations; DEC: maximal accelerations; HSR: high-speed running; PD: peak demands; RD: relative distance; Sat: Saturday; Sun: Sunday. arb. U.: arbitrary units. 95% CI: confidence interval; SE: standard error.} \\ \end{tabular}
\end{table} 
Table 3: _Cont._demonstrated lower cognitive anxiety and higher self-confidence scores linked with higher oxytocin and lower cortisol levels [25]. Regarding physical demands among players participating during weekend back-to-back basketball games, our results align with previous research [2; 6], showing similar results in physical demands between one or multiple consecutive games. The current investigation only detected a significant difference in RD between both games (77.9 vs. 73.9 m\(\cdot\)min\({}^{-1}\); \(p=0.03\)), and all variables examined showed similar average values during the second game. Nevertheless, RD has not recently been correlated with players' performance during basketball competitions [17]. Also, our data showed that the PD value did not change between games (\(p=0.11\)-0.66). [PERSON] et al. (2022) found that basketball players' supramaximal activity was reduced (5.7% less, \(p=0.02\)) in the second of a back-to-back game due to residual neuromuscular fatigue, whereas they tended to increase (3.7% more; \(p=0.02\)) their moderate-vigorous activity compared to non-fatigue conditions [26]. Congested cycles significantly impacted game outcomes and team performance [27; 28]. To improve this, physical demands should be individualized during training and competition for each player [6]. Furthermore, the present research showed comparable PD values in the same physical demand variables compared to similar studies among U-18 and senior players who participated only in one game per week [8], which is of great interest considering that players in this context maintain high physical game demands. In addition to showing differences during back-to-back games, averages in ACC (1.2 vs. 0.9 n\(\cdot\)min\({}^{-1}\); \(p=0.01\)) also presented significant differences between games among players who participated in one game during the weekend (Table 3). Although non-significant (\(p=0.06\)-0.43), the players who participated in back-to-back games presented a reduction in average values across all the external load variables examined (RD, HSR, ACC, and DEC) compared to the players who only participated in the second game (Sunday). Furthermore, all studies on PD have yielded similar results. This fact could help us understand that even though players try to save energy and accentuate low-intensity efforts during the second game, they can cope with high-intensity sporadic scenarios [26]. For instance, the players who competed in back-to-back games presented a 60 s PD of 121.3 m on Saturday and 133.5 m in RD on Sunday. This study's findings align with previous literature, reporting a 60 s MDS of 120.4 (119.2-121.6) in RD. Additionally, no significant differences were observed in the MDS of basketball match-play among U-18 players who completed four games over a three-day tournament [29].