NBA Round 2 Preview
Playoff Matchups
PLAYOFFS:
DTC Porkchop Express (1) +300 vs Win’s Up Doc (4)
The Pullies (2) +70 vs MN Moose Knuckles (3)
5TH PLACE GAME: Sporty Strauss (5) -200 vs Wait ‘Til Next Year (6)
CONSOLATION:
Las Cabras (7) -80 vs Shepherd Goods Choppers (10)
Ornery Otters (8) -15 vs The BamO’s (9)
LAST PLACE GAME: Cooper Troopers (11) -155 vs $traight Cash Homies (12)
Notes: In one of the most tightly-contested games in League of Leagues history to date, Win’s Up Doc (4) secures a crucial victory over Sporty Strauss (5). Not enough praise can be heaped upon Win’s Up Doc’s management of his team this year. It’s one of the more impressive team-building exercises ever put together in fantasy sports – from the draft to shrewd free agent pickups to a bunch of non-moves at the end of his season. Win’s Up Doc had a handful of trades to consider before the deadline that he turned down, including a huge offer from Sporty Strauss for Dejounte Murray that would have flipped this matchup. Win’s Up Doc built a team that could withstand injuries. He just opened a gigantic window for the entire League of Leagues this season.
For Sporty Strauss (5), now he knows he needs to fight hard in baseball to win the league this year. To be clear, he’s still the favorite, and he should win the 5th-Place game against Wait ‘Til Next Year and score 8 points in NBA League of Leagues for a total 23 points in two sports – not too shabby. Nobody else in the League of Leagues can score more than 18 points besides DTC Porkchop Express’ corpse of a roster. He’ll likely have at least 5-point edge going into baseball, and here’s a few things for him to watch:
(1) Las Cabras being the second biggest threat, especially if they can win the Consolation Tournament. The BamO’s enter this conversation with a Consolation Victory as well. Sporty Strauss needs to keep an eye on this.
(2) The winner of NBA poses a significant threat to Sporty Strauss’ reign. The Pullies and Win’s Up Doc, in particular, have had excellent MLB Drafts thus far. The MN Moose Knuckles are TBD on that front, but might put some chips in the table to build a solid MLB roster if he wins in NBA. BUT, luckily for Sporty Strauss, the max points any of these teams can have after the NBA Finish is 18 points for Win’s Up Doc.
Sporty Strauss can’t feel amazing about his trades at this point, but they aren’t as bad as one might think. He didn’t truly mortgage his future, and he’s doing a good job building an MLB roster despite a loss of assets. He’s just going to have to dig deep and really try to go far in MLB to win.
Elsewhere in the league, the MN Moose Knuckles (3) took Wait ‘Til Next Year (6) to task, as expected. Hall started to get nervous about his injuries before this week happened making the Jae Crowder trade, but he still dominated for the most points in the league this week. He draws The Pullies (2) in what should be a much tighter matchup, but the Championship showdown looks like it could be between Win’s Up Doc and the MN Moose Knuckles. That’s be the betting favorite right now.
The BamO’s (9) advanced in the Consolation Tournament despite some lineup snafus. SG Choppers (10) did the same. These teams finished 3rd and 4th in NFL, so they have all the motivation in the world to win this week and advanced to the Consolation Finals.
And we finally have our toilet bowl game between $traight Cash Homie (12) and the Cooper Troopers (11). What makes this an intriguing matchup is that these two are favored to finish bottom-2 at the end of the entire season. One of these guys will have to do the loser’s penalty. If the Cooper Troopers win, they’ll have a 4-point edge over $traight Cash Homie going into the baseball season. If Jack wins, they’ll be tied.
The League of Leagues doesn’t want them to be tied. The League of Leagues wants Cooper and Jack to tie for last place so they BOTH have to do a last-place penalty.
ROUND 2
DTC Porkchop Express (1) vs Win’s Up Doc (4)
DTC Porkchop Express: Projected … 1080 points
Win’s Up Doc: Projected … 1380 points
GAME LINE: DTC Porkchop Express +300 against Win’s Up Doc
Lineups:
PG1 – DeAaron Fox (33ppg - 4 plays) vs Luka Doncic (48ppg - 3 plays)
PG2 – Patty Mills (19ppg - 3 plays) vs Dejounte Murray (46ppg - 4 plays)
SG1 – Zach Lavine (33ppg - 3 plays) vs Desmond Bane (27ppg - 3 plays)
SG2 – De’Anthony Melton (22ppg - 3 plays) vs Kevin Porter, Jr. (24ppg - 3 plays)
SF3 – DeAndre Hunter (18ppg - 4 plays) vs Scottie Barnes (30ppg - 4 plays)
SF4 – Jaden McDaniels (18ppg - 3 plays) vs Herbert Jones (23ppg - 3 plays)
PF1 – Damontas Sabonis (40ppg - 4 plays) vs Kristaps Porzingis (34ppg - 3 plays)
PF2 – PJ Washington (22ppg - 3 plays) vs Brandon Clarke (22ppg - 3 plays)
C1 – Jakob Poeltl (33ppg - 4 plays) vs Jonas Valanciunas (34ppg - 3 plays)
C1 – Clint Capela (31ppg - 4 plays) vs Mo Bamba (26ppg - 3 plays)
FLEX1 – Isaiah Hartenstein (19ppg - 3 plays) vs Jordan Poole (23ppg - 3 plays)
FLEX2 – Shake Milton (17ppg - 4 plays) vs Kevon Looney (20ppg - 3 plays)
FLEX3 – Naz Reid (16ppg - 3 plays) vs Malik Monk (21ppg - 4 plays)
FLEX4 – Rudy Gay (15ppg - 4 plays) vs Daniel Gafford (21ppg - 4 plays)
FLEX5 – Damion Lee (13ppg - 1 play) vs Garrison Matthews (17ppg - 3 plays)
FLEX5 – N/A vs Caleb Martin (19ppg - 1 play)
DTC Porkchop Express: Advantage at 2/14 positions
Win’s Up Doc: Advantage at 12/14 positions
DTC Porkchop Express: Josh Giddey (O - Hip), Chris Paul (O – Hand), Gordon Hayward (Q - Ankle), Lu Dort (O - Shoulder)
Sporty Strauss INJURIES: Jarrett Allen (O - Hand), Eric Gordon (Q - Rest), Lamarcus Aldridge (O - Hip), Dennis Schroder (Q - Illness)
Notes: In retrospect, drawing Sporty Strauss in the first round of the playoffs was the best-case scenario for Win’s Up Doc. If he had lost, his season was likely over no matter what. If he won, he has an EASY path to the Championship game after DTC Porkchop Express (1) gutted his roster to build for next season. Plus, Win’s Up Doc put a ceiling on Sporty Strauss’ season-long points.
Now, Win’s Up Doc can rest easy with a practical BYE this week. There’s no way he loses to Craig.
The Pullies (2) vs MN Moose Knuckles (3)
The Pullies: Projected … 1430 points
MN Moose Knuckles: Projected… 1500 points
GAME LINE: The Pullies +70 vs MN Moose Knuckles
Lineups:
PG1 – Ja Morant (41ppg - 3 plays) vs Terry Rozier (32ppg - 3 plays)
PG2 – Kyle Lowry (30ppg - 2 plays) vs Jalen Suggs (22ppg - 3 plays)
SG1 – Darius Garland (33ppg - 4 plays) vs Devin Booker (36ppg - 4 plays)
SG2 – Gary Trent, Jr. (27ppg - 4 plays) vs Devin Vassell (21ppg - 4 plays)
SF3 – Anthony Edwards (32ppg - 3 plays) vs RJ Barrett (25ppg - 3 plays)
SF4 – Bojan Bogdanovic (22ppg - 4 plays) vs Terance Mann (25 proj. ppg - 3 plays)
PF1 – LeBron James (48ppg - 4 plays) vs Julius Randle (36ppg - 3 plays)
PF2 – Kevin Durant (45ppg - 3 plays) vs Wendell Carter (31ppg - 3 plays)
C1 – Montrezl Harrell (23ppg - 3 plays) vs Joel Embiid (50ppg - 4 plays)
C1 – Thaddeus Young (15ppg - 2 plays) vs Rudy Gobert (41ppg - 4 plays)
FLEX1 – Patrick Beverly (24 proj. ppg - 3 plays) vs Bobby Portis (29ppg - 3 plays)
FLEX2 – Monte Morris (22 ppg - 4 plays) vs Aleksej Pokusevski (30 proj. ppg - 4 plays)
FLEX3 – Dorian Finney-Smith (21ppg - 3 plays) vs Jarred Vanderbilt (24ppg - 3 plays)
FLEX4 – Jordan Clarkson (21ppg - 4 plays) vs Cam Johnson (20ppg - 4 plays)
FLEX5 – Luke Kennard (19ppg - 3 plays) vs Raul Neto (20 proj. ppg - 2 plays)
FLEX – Deni Avdija (17ppg - 1 play) vs N/A
The Pullies: Advantage at 8/14 positions
MN Moose Knuckles: Advantage at 6/14 positions
The Pullies INJURIES: Anfernee Simons (O - Knee), Anthony Edwards (Q - Knee)
MN Moose Knuckles INJURIES: Cam Johnson (Q - Quad), Rudy Gobert (Q - Foot), Jalen Suggs (Q - Ankle), Jarred Vanderbilt (Q - Quad)
Notes: This game, on the other hand, could go down to the wire. The MN Moose Knuckles are the favorite, but the team can simply not get fully healthy. Whether or not Hall gets games from Cam Johnson or Jarred Vanderbilt this week could tilt this matchup, and he absolutely needs Rudy Gobert to play in all four games. The Moose Knuckles are ridiculously deep, but they’re getting tested in all the worst ways.
The Pullies, on the other side, have gotten much healthier over the last couple of weeks. They do have Anfernee Simons out for this week, but that’s it. They’re headlined by Kevin Durant and LeBron James, in that order right now. In general, this matchup has the most star power we’ve seen in any matchup in a long time. With Embiid on the Knuckles, that’s 3 of the top-6 players in fantasy basketball in one matchup.
This one will be fun to watch.
5TH-PLACE GAME
Sporty Strauss (5) vs Wait ‘Til Next Year (6)
Sporty Strauss: Projected… 1520 points
Wait ‘Til Next Year: Projected… 1320 points
GAME LINE: Sporty Strauss -200 against Wait ‘Til Next Year
Lineups:
PG1 – Ben Simmons (30 proj. ppg - 3 plays) vs Trae Young (41ppg - 4 plays)
PG2 – Mike Conley (26ppg - 4 plays) vs Tyrese Maxey (29ppg - 4 plays)
SG1 – DeMar DeRozan (39ppg - 3 plays) vs Kyrie Irving (37ppg - 2 plays)
SG2 – Derrick White (27ppg - 3 plays) vs Ayo Dosunmu (27ppg - 3 plays)
SF3 – Brandon Ingram (33ppg - 3 plays) vs Will Barton (26ppg - 4 plays)
SF4 – Andrew Wiggins (27ppg - 3 plays) vs Marcus Morris (23 ppg - 3 plays)
PF1 – Pascal Siakam (40ppg - 4 plays) vs Jayson Tatum (40ppg - 3 plays)
PF2 – Draymond Green (30ppg - 2 games) vs Jaren Jackson Jr. (30ppg - 3 plays)
C1 – Giannis Antetekounmpo (51ppg - 3 plays) vs Andre Drummond (23ppg - 3 plays)
C1 – Deandre Ayton (32ppg - 4 plays) vs Mason Plumlee (22ppg - 3 plays)
FLEX1 – Al Horford (27ppg - 3 plays) vs Oshae Brissett (24 proj. ppg - 3 plays)
FLEX2 – Franz Wagner (25ppg - 3 plays) vs Isaiah Stewart (22ppg - 3 plays)
FLEX3 – Cameron Payne (25+ proj. ppg - 4 plays) vs Royce O’Neal (21ppg - 4 plays)
FLEX4 – Reggie Jackson (25ppg - 3 plays) vs Evan Fournier (21ppg - 3 plays)
FLEX5 – Kevin Love (24ppg - 4 plays) vs Justin Holiday (17ppg - 4 plays)
FLEX6 – Dillon Brooks (25ppg - 1 play) vs Goran Dragic (15ppg - 1 play)
Win’s Up Doc: Advantage at 10/14 positions
Wait ‘Til Next Year Advantage at 2/14 positions
Sporty Strauss INJURIES: Ben Simmons (Q for 3/13 – Mental Health), Draymond Green (O - Back), Dillon Brooks (Q - Ankle), Victor Oladipo (P - Knee)
Wait ‘Til Next Year INJURIES: Anthony Davis (O
Notes: This matchup is far less fun for those involved. In fact, this matchup is often the saddest of the season. At least last place teams know their chances of competing are dwindling. These teams could have succeeded in winning NBA, but it wasn’t in the cards.
Sporty Strauss should dominate this matchup based on how deep his team is. He’s getting healthier and healthier, and we could see the return of Ben Simmons on the court this week. Altogether, it will likely make Strauss feel even sadder when he dominates this week for potentially the highest score in the league this week.
It’s a tough beat for Sporty Strauss, but nobody in the league crying about it. That’s for certain.
CONSOLATION TOURNAMENT
Las Cabras (7) vs Shepherd Goods Choppers (10)
Las Cabras: Projected … 1375 points
SG Choppers: Projected… 1295 points
GAME LINE: Las Cabras -80 over SG Choppers
Lineups:
PG1 – S. Gilgeous-Alexander (37ppg - 4 plays) vs T. Haliburton (38ppg - 3 plays)
PG2 – Cole Anthony (30ppg - 3 plays) vs Spencer Dinwiddie (25ppg - 3 plays)
SG1 – D’Angelo Russell (32ppg - 3 plays) vs Fred VanVleet (38ppg - 4 plays)
SG2 – Seth Curry (24ppg - 3 plays) vs Klay Thompson (25ppg - 3 plays)
SF3 – Jerami Grant (28ppg - 3 plays) vs Jimmy Butler (40ppg - 2 plays)
SF4 – Saddiq Bey (24ppg - 3 plays) vs Talen Horton-Tucker (18ppg - 4 plays)
PF1 – Harrison Barnes (27ppg - 4 plays) vs Tobias Harris (32ppg - 4 plays)
PF2 – Lauri Markkanen (23ppg - 4 plays) vs Kelly Olynyk (20ppg - 3 plays)
C1 – Nikola Jokic (55ppg - 4 plays) vs Karl-Anthony Towns (42ppg - 3 plays)
C1 – Steven Adams (25ppg - 3 plays) vs Robert Williams (32ppg - 3 plays)
FLEX1 – Coby White (21ppg - 3 plays) vs Jalen Green (19ppg - 3 plays)
FLEX2 – K. Caldwell-Pope (21ppg - 4 plays) vs Ish Smith (19ppg - 4 plays)
FLEX3 – Chris Boucher (20ppg - 4 plays) vs Lonnie Walker (17ppg - 4 plays)
FLEX4 – Grayson Allen (19ppg - 3 plays) vs Isaiah Roby (17ppg - 4 plays)
FLEX5 – Chimezie Metu (18ppg - 2 plays) vs Jeff Green (16ppg - 3 plays)
Las Cabras: Advantage at 9/15 positions
SG Choppers: Advantage at 6/15 positions
Notes: If only the Shepherd Goods Choppers bench were better than it is, this could be a really competitive matchup. Instead, Las Cabras are favored because of their bench. But the Choppers are still feisty. Jordan has so much top-end talent on his team when healthy that he could give the Cabras a run for their money.
Both teams have plenty at stake, having finished top-4 in football. A Consolation Championship would mean a ton to both squads, though it probably means more to Las Cabras who now have a chance to win it all with Sporty Strauss’ loss. The SG Choppers’ baseball draft might be hard to salvage at this point, and the waiver warrior is going to have to be ON IT this season.
Ornery Otters (8) vs The BamO’s (9)
Ornery Otters: Projected … 1350 points
The BamO’s: Projected… 1325 points
GAME LINE: Ornery Otters -15 over The BamO’s
Lineups:
PG1 – LaMelo Ball (38 ppg - 3 plays) vs Steph Curry (40ppg - 3 plays)
PG2 – Russell Westbrook (33ppg - 4 plays) vs Jrue Holiday (34ppg - 3 plays)
SG1 – Malcolm Brogdon (33ppg - 3 plays) vs CJ McCollum (33ppg - 2 plays)
SG2 – Cade Cunningham (29ppg - 3 plays) vs Jalen Brunson (27ppg - 3 plays)
SF3 – Jaylen Brown (33ppg - 3 plays) vs Josh Hart (29ppg - 4 plays)
SF4 – Mikal Bridges (25ppg - 4 plays) vs Bogdan Bogdanovic (23ppg - 4 plays)
PF1 – John Collins (31ppg - 4 plays) vs Miles Bridges (35ppg - 3 plays)
PF2 – Keldon Johnson (25ppg - 4 plays) vs Kyle Kuzma (31ppg - 4 plays)
C1 – Mitchell Robinson (25ppg - 3 plays) vs Bam Adebayo (36ppg - 2 plays)
C1 – Ivica Zubac (23ppg - 3 plays) vs Daniel Theis (16ppg - 3 plays)
FLEX1 – Aaron Gordon (25ppg - 4 plays) vs Marcus Smart (26ppg - 3 plays)
FLEX2 – Tre Mann (22 proj. ppg - 4 plays) vs Buddy Hield (22ppg - 3 plays)
FLEX3 – Hassan Whiteside (22ppg - 4 plays) vs Carmelo Anthony (22ppg - 4 plays)
FLEX4 – Precious Achiuwa (18ppg - 4 plays) vs Davion Mitchell (17ppg - 4 plays)
FLEX5 – N/A vs Duncan Robinson (17ppg - 2 plays)
FLEX5 – N/A vs Austin Reaves (17ppg - 4 plays)
$traight Cash Homie: Advantage at 4/14 positions
The BamO’s: Advantage at 7/14 positions
Ornery Otters INJURIES: John Collins (Q - Finger), Malcolm Brogdon (Q - Concussion), Aaron Gordon (Q - Foot), Lonzo Ball (O - Knee)
The BamO’s INJURIES: Paul George (O - Shoulder), Jusuf Nurkic (O - Foot)
Notes: The BamO’s have the worst lineup luck I’ve ever seen this week. With a Heat-heavy lineup, he only gets two plays from Bam and Duncan Robinson. Then NONE of his his big guns (Steph, Bridges, McCollum, Jrue) have 4-game weeks. He’s going to have to rely on some newfound depth to pull this one out, but the line is razor-close.
The Ornery Otters have some minor injuries, but at this point in the season, who doesn’t?
A fun part of this matchup: the Bridges brothers, both of whom had nice seasons, are squaring off against each other.
The stakes for this game are much higher for The BamO’s who put chips into this year to try to compete. He still has a chance, and making in to the Consolation Championship game would be a huge victory for him.
The Ornery Otters seem to be more playing for next year while trying not to absolutely suck. Korey likely doesn’t completely care where he finishes in basketball, though winning the Consolation Tournament would certainly put him in contention, especially to get 3rd or 4th place.
Plenty at stake in BOTH of these Consolation Tournament games.
LAST-PLACE GAME
Cooper Troopers (11) vs $traight Cash Homie (12)
Cooper Troopers: Projected … 1170
$traight Cash Homie: Projected… 1015 points
GAME LINE: Cooper Troopers -155 over $traight Cash Homie
Lineups:
PG1 – James Harden (45ppg - 4 plays) vs Donovan Mitchell (37ppg - 4 plays)
PG2 – Devonte’ Graham (21ppg - 3 plays) vs Tyler Herro (27ppg - 2 plays)
SG1 – Khris Middleton (32ppg - 3 plays) vs Caris LeVert (28ppg - 4 plays)
SG2 – Kevin Huerter (20ppg - 4 plays) vs Gary Harris (17ppg - 3 plays)
SF3 – Kelly Oubre (24ppg - 3 plays)vs Jae’Sean Tate (24ppg - 3 plays)
SF4 – Darius Bazley (22ppg - 4 plays) vs Malik Beasley (17ppg - 3 plays)
PF1 – Christian Wood (33ppg - 3 plays) vs Robert Covington (22ppg - 3 plays)
PF2 – Evan Mobley (31ppg - 4 plays) vs Maxi Kleber (20ppg - 3 plays)
C1 – Nikola Vucevic (40ppg - 3 plays) vs Jaxson Hayes (16ppg - 3 plays)
C1 – Onyeka Okongwu (21ppg - 4 plays) vs Dewayne Dedmon (16ppg - 2 plays)
FLEX1 – Jae Crowder (21ppg - 4 plays) vs PJ Tucker (19ppg - 2 plays)
FLEX2 – D. DiVincenzo (19ppg on SAC - 4 plays) vs Danilo Gallinari (18ppg - 4 plays)
FLEX3 – Alperen Sengun (19ppg - 3 plays) vs Cedi Osman (17ppg - 4 plays)
FLEX4 – Javonte Green (17ppg - 3 plays) vs Jonathan Kuminga (14ppg - 3 plays)
FLEX5 – Jalen Smith (16ppg - 1 play) vs Rui Hachimura (15ppg - 3 plays)
FLEX6 – N/A vs Grant Williams (15ppg - 3 plays)
FLEX7 – N/A vs Corey Kispert (12ppg - 1 play)
The BamO’s: Advantage at 12/14 positions
$traight Cash Homie: Advantage at 1/14 positions
Notes: As mentioned before, this game could very well decide who has to do the last-place penalty. The Cooper Troopers are favored heavily in the matchup and gain a coveted 4-point lead over $traight Cash Homies going into baseball. This gives Coop, who has a really solid MLB team so far, a nice cushion. A playoff berth probably prevents the Cooper Troopers from losing unless $traight Cash Homie’s team is better than expected.
Right now, Jack is the odds-on favorite to have to do the last-place punishment.