SWISH SUNDAY!

Swish Sunday

Written by Luke Rowntree

Welcome to the inaugural Swish Sunday in what I hope becomes your #1 weekly source for the association's hottest stories and first choice for previews and insights for the upcoming week's biggest matchups.

No Bull

The Chicago Bulls are seven games under 500. and they are clawing toward the play-in tournament in the East. With their star player Zach Lavine averaging a career-high 3.7 turnovers and them being one of the worst defences in the league (24th), they should not be box office material in any way. However, this is a team I cannot highly recommend enough you turn on league pass for.

Despite the lack of care with the ball, the high-flying Zach Lavine has been a scoring machine coming off a 50-point explosion this weekend and is averaging a career-high 27.5ppg.

The addition of Nickola Vucevic at the trade deadline signaled the Bulls' desire to be a playoff contender. Now, it should allow Zach to give up some of the playmaking responsibility as the season continues. His dominance as a post-scorer and his excellent shooting touch will make opponents stop sitting on Lavine's passes so often.

The Bulls have one of the easier schedules the rest of the way and have a winning percentage of 67% against teams below 500. Whom they play a lot of down the stretch! Because of this, I would look to see them squeeze into the 8th seed and give number one seeded Brooklyn a real fight.

Mile High MVP

Denver Nuggets forward Aaron Gordon (50) runs back up the court with center Nikola Jokic (15); Source: Denver Post | Photo from Joe Mahoney, AP

Denver is going to the finals. Book it! Aaron Gordan's addition has been the most unstoppable offensive force in the league, even more threatening. He is a solid three-point shooter who fills all the defensive gaps and allows 'the Joker' to save energy on the defensive end. It also takes immense pressure off Michael Porter Jr. (and the Nugget's coaching staff) to make shots and defend quicker, stronger players on the perimeter.

Combined with Jokic and Murray's pick n' roll, which is unstoppable. If the blitz comes to Murray, he will pick n' pop to Jokic, and if you switch off to double 'Joker', he will easily find the open Murray who will roast you off the dribble.

With both Embiid and LeBron going down for some time with injuries, Jokic has been the clear MVP favourite. He's putting up 2k video game numbers (26.8pts, 11.1reb, 8.7ast, 1.6stl) and Denver is 9-1 in their last 10 with one of the best home-court advantages with that altitude.

I don't see how they stop Brooklyn's big three in the finals, but I see them representing the West at the end of the season. Nonetheless, led by the MVP, I would still give them a Candian puncher's chance with Jamal Murray finally becoming the Joker's Harley Quinn.

Games of the Week

Boston @ Denver 3:00 pm

Jason Tatum is coming off a 50-point double-double, and the Celtics have finally had some rhythm, winning their last two games. Look for Robert' Time Lord' Williams, who has been hitting his stride to give the MVP front runner some issues down low.

- Celtics Win

Wednesday, April 14th

Brooklyn @ Philidelphia 7:00pm

Kevin Durant is back! Joel Embiid is back! We finally have a preview of our East finals. Yes, Harden is out, but that means we get to see how good this Brooklyn rosters new past its expiry date frontline of Aldridge and Griffin can be on defence. Embiid scores 40 and embarrasses both men.

- 76ers Win

Friday, April 16th

Memphis @ Chicago 8:00pm

This game is not to be overlooked on a busy 11 game night. It will be a battle of wills with Morant and Lavine attacking from the backcourt. I'm guaranteeing a Jonas and Nikola battle on the boards leading to at least one technical. We could see a 300-point total. Jim Boylan has these Bulls playing well but not on defence.

- Grizzlies Win

That's the look ahead for the week. Thanks for reading the jump ball edition of Sunday Swish. I'll be back next Sunday, ready to shoot the J!