Swish Tribune

  Written By: Jack Nevins of Swish Tribune      The Phoenix Suns took down the Los Angeles Clippers in 5, despite being one of the most hyped up first round Playoff matchups.     The Suns and Clippers series featured Devin Booker, Russell Westbrook, Kevin Durant, Kawhi Leonard, Chris Paul, and more. NBA fans were excited to see a rematch of Westbrook and Durant, and although the beef between the ex-teammates is cleared, it is always fun to watch these two play.      Phoenix looked unstoppable, with Durant and Booker leading the charge. In all five contests, the new dynamic duo scored at least 25 points each. This tied Kobe and Shaq for the longest run of at least 25 points scored in a playoff appearance. Although Booker and KD are showing out each night, the Suns lack great depth. Chris Paul is now entering the late stages in his career and Deandre Ayton is  inconsistent, not putting up the numbers needed on the offensive side of the ball.     This lack of depth will be an issue when t

                 Written By: Spencer Teman, of Swish Tribune                It turns out that us Knicks fans weren't wrong when we were chanting "Knicks in 5" all the way down 7th avenue as the Knicks defeat the Cavs in the best of seven series, 4 games to 1.               For the first time in 10 years, the Knicks have made it out of the first round. If you look at that Knicks team from 10 years ago, not a single one of those players are currently an active player in the NBA today. It is certainly a great time for us as Knicks fans as we have been so devastated with so many bad teams over the past decade, but now finally this team is accomplishing something.                The difference maker in this series was Madison Square Garden. I am convinced that there is no arena or stadium in sports that can top the home-field advantage that MSG brings. If you think you've been in a loud area, MSG can double the decibel level very quickly.                The Cavs weren'

Written By: Dylan Grodner of Swish Tribune  Date: April 27th, 2023 The Nuggets win 4-1 to move onto the second round against the Timberwolves. This series win was no surprise. This year the Nuggets have been the best team in the West, maintaining the 1 seed for a good majority of the season. Nikola Jokic has been playing like an MVP all season long and has continued to do so in these playoffs, averaging 26.2 PPG, 12.4 RPG, and 9 APG. In addition to Jokic, Jamal Murray has also stepped up big in these playoffs, proving to be one of the best playoff performers in the game. Although they couldn't sweep the Timberwolves, they handled this series with ease and are ready for a challenge as they play the Phoenix Suns next.  On the other hand, the Timberwolves came into this series after just making the playoffs by winning against the Thunder in the play in game. The Timberwolves also entered these playoffs with much drama in their hands as well. They seemed to slowly gain the team chemist

Written By: Carmine Tuosto of Swish Tribune Football Fans, get ready for the 2023 NFL Draft. In just a few hours, one of the most exciting days in football will take place in Kansas City, the home of the Defending Super Bowl Champions. The 2023 NFL Draft is expected to be filled with talent, with some of the most promising young players in College football. Bryce Young, Jalen Carter, and Cj Stroud, were all standout College players this past season and are expected to be top picks tonight. To some, Bryce Young is the best player in the draft. Young brings a lot of strengths to his game, including good rush awareness and pocket mobility, calm demeanor on the field, and shows ability to stay focused in the 4th quarter. However, he is lacking in some areas with his height and weight only being 5 '10, 204 lbs. Since 2003, no quarterback who weighed fewer than 207 pounds at the combine has been drafted in Round 1. Furthermore, he doesn’t run as often as he could to counter the rush and

              Written By: Spencer Teman, of Swish Tribune                The Philadelphia 76ers make a clean sweep of the Brooklyn Nets and are onto the 2nd round to face the winner of the Atlanta Hawks vs Boston Celtics series that is currently in 3-2 in favor of Boston.               My prediction before the series was that the 76ers would easily move onto the second round, but I did not expect them to sweep this pesky Nets team and dominate them every single game. I thought the Nets would maybe steal a game at home and at best get the series to 5 or 6 games.               Both game 1 and 2 in Philly were dominated by the Sixers as they used home-court to their advantage. The games in Brooklyn were a bit closer, but down the stretch of those games you could see who the more experienced team was and the team that was built to advance was.                I will give the Nets credit that they were able to slow down perennial-MVP candidate Joel Embiid. The fact that the Sixers still domi

                Written By: Spencer Teman, of Swish Tribune                It took well over a month of negotiations between the Jets and the Packers, but finally Aaron Rodgers will officially wear a new shade of green this upcoming season, being apart of the New York Jets                  Rodgers went on Pat McAfee's podcast in mid-March and told him that his intentions are to play for the Jets this upcoming season until he feels like it is time to hang up the jersey. Fast forward to April 24th, the Jets and Packers finally ended negotiations and the 4-time MVP is headed to the Big Apple.             The trade worked out well for both teams, the Packers never imagined giving up their guy for the past 18 years so suddenly, but they got a good amount in return for the 39-year-old. Along with a first round pick swap this year, they got the Jets second-rounder, and a conditional second-rounder next year that will most likely turn into a first round pick.             Aaron Rodgers foll

  Written By: Dylan Grodner of Swish Tribune  Date: April 24th, 2023 The 2022-2023 NBA Playoffs are well underway, and there's a lot to unfold. We are midway through the first round and this is where each series stands: Western Conference:  3-1 Nuggets - Timberwolves 3-1 Suns - Clippers 2-2 Warriors - Kings 2-1 Lakers - Grizzlies About 4 games into the Western Conference series, there is a lot to talk about. Starting with the Nuggets V.S. Timberwolves, we all came in knowing the Nuggets would win in 4 or 5 games. Nikola Jokic is a back to back MVP and makes a case for a third straight MVP this year as well. In addition, Jamal Murray is taking his game to another level come playoff time, already dropping a 40 piece earlier in the series. As for the Timberwolves, their team is just a mess. With the entire Rudy Gobert and Kyle Anderson fight to wrap up the regular season, coming into the playoffs, to them losing out on their defensive stud, Jaden McDaniels, it seemed like this seri

           Written By: Jack Nevins, of Swish Tribune     On Sunday, April 9th, Odell Beckham Jr. agreed to a 1-year, $18 million contract and $15 million guaranteed with the Baltimore Ravens, according to Espn's Adam Schefter and NFL Network's Ian Rappaport.     For months on end, OBJ has brought great controversy to his name as he rumored to sign with his former team, the New York Giants, or their conference rivals, the Dallas Cowboys. Beckham has bounced around the NFL the past couple of seasons, playing in Cleveland to team up with Jarvis Landry for 3 seasons, LA for a short 1 season stint, to win a ring, and now Baltimore. Odell was once an All-Pro and Pro Bowl receiver during his time in New York but has since become a ring chaser.     OBJ took his announcement to  Instagram, as he posted his son wearing a Baltimore Ravens Odell Beckham Jr. jersey.      When the news broke about Odell signing with the Ravens, it was reported that Lamar Jackson played a large role in recrui

                  Written By: Spencer Teman, of Swish Tribune                  The Knicks march into Cleveland and take Game 1 away from the Cavs! My vision and hope for the Knicks to be successful in this series was to go into Cleveland and take at least 1 out of 2, that way they will have an advantage when heading back to MSG and they did just that.                 Just hours before the game, we had no idea if Julius Randle would suit up in this crucial game, but he did and was a huge impact for the Knicks. In fact, he sealed the game with the huge offensive rebound that lead to two made free throws to win the game.                The Knicks played a great game and did a great job in taking the crowd out of the game for most of it. They lead most of the game until the final two minutes when the Cavs took the lead by 1 but the Knicks did not look back.               A huge Josh Hart three-pointer then a Jalen Brunson fadeaway were two huge baskets that contributed to this victory. Har

                 Written By: Spencer Teman, of Swish Tribune                The Play-In starts tonight and the stakes are very high. The Western Conference has been neck and neck all year long and finally we get to see the best of the best battle it out in the bloodbath of the West.              Tonight, the first play-in game for the West showcases the Los Angeles Lakers and the Minnesota Timberwolves. The Lakers got hot at the right time during the regular season as they made it all the way up to the #7 seed, even with a rough first half of the season.             The Timberwolves are all over the place right now with the whole Rudy Gobert and Kyle Anderson situation, on the other hand, the Lakers are very hot right now so you can see why I am going to take the Lakers in this one. I will never understand why the Timberwolves would give up that many assets this offseason for Rudy Gobert when he can't even play in the biggest game of their season thus far.              The Lakers w

                  Written By: Spencer Teman, of Swish Tribune                One of the most hectic and crazy NBA seasons has come to a close and we are finally in playoff time. The stakes will only rise as now there are 20 teams remaining and only 16 will remain after Friday.             In the Eastern Conference, the Bucks secured the #1 seed and will play the #8 seed, the Celtics are the #2 and will play the #7, the 76ers take on the Nets, and the best matchup in my opinion, the Cavs and the Knicks.              The Bucks will steamroll over the team they play in their first-round matchup. If the Heat win their play-in game and play the Celtics, then that would be a very interesting first round matchup. Another playoff rematch between the two teams after the Celtics eliminated the Heat last year to go to the finals.             The Heat have not been very solid this year, but the playoffs is a whole different beast, and they have a ton of experience and star power to take on the Cel