SWISH SUNDAY VOL. 6

Swish Sunday

Written by Luke Rowntree

Here we go, folks! The Playoffs have finally arrived and we have some huge matchups to kick it off in the winner take all formatted play-in tournament. So, let's just jump right into the breakdowns below:

Grizzlies (9) vs Spurs (10)

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This should be a fun up-and-down game with some young studs. I see Ja Morant continue carrying Grizzlies' great offensive play on a healthy helping of pick and rolls with JV. DeMar DeRozan is already looking for a new team and is likely to want to get his shopping started early. These teams are really just playing to see who gets the right to play one more game. While this might be a harsh tone to take neither of these clubs has a chance of beating the Jazz or either of the seven or eight seeds out west.

- Grizzlies Win

Pacers (10) vs Wizards (9)

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The play of Russell Westbrook and Bradley Beal this season has been phenomenal in the latter half. The two guards will now have carried the Wizards to winning 15 out of the last 19 games and don’t look to be slowing down. While the Pacers are coming into the play-in on the opposite end of the spectrum. First-year head coach Nate Bjorkgren has lost the locker room and it has led to in-fighting in the locker room and on the court. The combined power of Washington’s offence and Indiana's lack of discipline should make this a blowout.

- Wizards Win

Celtics (7) vs Hornets (8)

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With the sad news of Jaylen Brown’s season-ending wrist injury, it will fall to Jayson Tatum to carry the Celtics on this playoff run. Boston is a shell of the team that made the eastern conference finals last year. The luke-warm addition of Evan Fournier at the trade deadline and the loss of a glue guy like Daniel Theis has made this a rough end to a promising start. However, even with potential rookie of the year LaMelo Ball healthy and playing well, the Hornets are just too inexperienced to beat the battle-tested Celtics in a win or go home scenario.

- Celtics Win

Lakers (7) vs Warriors (8)

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Now folks this is why we wanted a play-in tournament. Adam Silver is a mad genius and has managed to have basketballs to biggest names go head-to-head on the last night of the season! LeBron James versus Steph Curry. Folks if you don’t like this you don’t like basketball. LeBron and his Lakers have been dealing with injuries and have slid all the way down the standings. Steph on the other hand has dragged the Warriors on his back flirting with 50-point games nightly. While I do think Steph has the firepower to carry win any single game. The King will be locked in and all his horsemen will be ready to defend that title.

- Lakers Win

8th Seed Games

Grizzlies (9) vs Warriors (8)

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With Memphis beating the Spurs and the Warriors losing to the Lakers we end up with a shooting versus dunking matchup with two premier point guards. The Grizzlies are deeper than I think most teams realize and I believe that if the Warriors lose the Grizzlies will have the depth to run them of the court. Look for Dillion Brooks to feast on poor Wiggins off-ball coverage and big Jonas to put his name all over the glass.

- Grizzlies Win

Hornets (8) vs Wizards (9)

AP Photo/Jacob Kupferman

Get your track shoes on people because this matchup is going to be up and down. Both these teams are so fun to watch and are led by arguably the most exciting guards in the association. This is going to be a perimeter defenders' worst nightmare but anyone who takes the over will have a blast. Again, the Hornets are just too inexperienced and Westbrook is playing like a legend right now.

- Wizards Win

Sources:

- USA Today

- CBS Sports