SWISH SUNDAY VOL. 2
Swish Sunday
Written by Luke Rowntree
Welcome back to Swish Sunday. What an up and down week for NBA fans. Below you will still find this week's biggest matchups and stories but with an additional weekly fantasy basketball tip that should help you in the upcoming playoffs.
Heartbreak in Brooklyn
The terribly sad news of Brooklyn Nets Forward LaMarcus Aldridge having to retire due to an irregular heartbeat sent shockwaves through the league. His number will be retired in Portland but his current team, the Brooklyn Nets after getting beat up inside by Joel Embiid this past week doesn’t look like they can afford this loss of manpower down low. Brooklyn is still the 21st ranked defense in paint protection (48.8ppg) and with the health of the big three still up in the air. Brooklyn’s road to the finals didn’t get any easier. The Big Three have played less than 400 actual possessions of basketball in 7 games together this season. No matter how good they are chemistry matters and time is running out.
Murray & Mitchell Injured
Injuries to Jamal Murray and Donavon Mitchell this week have also left the Jazz and Nuggets finals hopes up in the air. Murray is done for the season with a torn ACL and Mitchell’s ankle injury is causing him to miss several more upcoming games. This is bad timing with everything happening in the top half of the west. With Anthony Davis coming back for the Lakers this week, the Pheonix Suns climbing to 2nd at 40-15, and the Clippers starting to look like an actual team with chemistry. These two Western powerhouses could slip in the standings and cost themselves a finals birth.
Photo from Sports Illustrated
Luck of the Irish
While the month of April isn’t usually reserved for the Irish. The Boston Celtics have gone 7-1 in this month and are shooting back up the Eastern Conference standings. Thanks to some great underrated bench play from guys like Luke Kornet & Romeo Langford, the C’s have been able to open shake up their isolation heavy offence that Jason Tatum and Jaylen Brown are built for. In fact, Jaylen Brown against the Lakers Thursday night did something no Celtic has done since the ABA/NBA merger in 76’. Becoming the first Celtic since then to score 40 points on 85%+ shooting. However, while I wouldn’t pick them to win a series against the top three teams in the east. If there is a Miami dark horse like last season the Celtics are my pick right now.
Chef Curry with the Pot
The GOAT shooter in the NBA had 33 points in a win against Clevland on Thursday. Making that nine 30+ point games in a row, the first time he has ever done that in his career. He also only needs two more games of 30 points and he surpasses Kobe Bryant’s record of 10 games for a player over 33 years old. The Warriors have won four straight and I would not want to see them as an 8th seed if I was out West. Curry right now is hot enough to win a series on his own playing like this.
Photo from Getty Images
Games of the Week
Tuesday, April 20th
LA Clippers @ Portland 10:00 pm
Kawhi is dealing with foot issues and even though the last game these teams played Paul George cooked them for 36 and Patrick Beverly shut Lillard down. Without Beverly to help on Dame & CJ look for them to torch back up guards like Rondo from deep.
- Trailblazers Win
Thursday, April 22nd
Philadelphia @ Milwaukee 7:00 pm
Bucks won the first meeting by 4. Giannis has been dealing with a knee issue and hasn’t looked quite the same. While Joel Embiid and Ben Simmons lead the second-best rated defense in the league (106.6) and will be looking to put more distance on the 3rd place Bucks and catch the Nets.
- 76ers Wins
Friday, April 23rd
Boston @ Brooklyn 7:30 pm
Brooklyn needs to keep pace to get the number one seed. Boston allows 110ppg and the Nets on average score 119ppg. This has the making of a blowout on Boston's second night of a tough back-to-back that includes the Suns.
- Nets Win
SWISH SUNDAY RECORD
3-0Fantasy Pick Up of the Week
Daniel Gafford (C) – If you need Blocks & Boards the young gun is breaking out. He should be starting soon. Scott Brooks couldn’t take him off the court when he had 18 and 4 blocks in 26min Friday night.
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