SEVENTH HEAVEN
One of the oldest and fiercest rivalries in NBA history took center stage Saturday night when the Philadelphia 76ers took on the Boston Celtics in a first round, Eastern Conference, playoff game seven. It was the ninth time the two teams have faced off in a game seven with the Celtics holding a commanding 6-2 record. Those nine game seven's are the most ever between two teams. Game seven's hold a mythical aura of lore in the NBA as they signify the one and done, win or go home energy that the NCAA tournament thrives on. Players' careers and confidence can catapult or screech based on these performances.
This season's first game seven held an intriguing story line as Jayson Tatum was ruled out of this decisive contest with a left leg injury just hours before tipoff. The last time these two behemoths of the NBA played in a game seven was 2023 when Tatum dropped 51 points in a Celtic win, cementing himself in Boston folklore. With this questionable injury report coming out the day of the game how will his absence be seen in the eyes of the basketball world. Surely it's the intelligent move for his career, coming off the achilles injury and the organization clearly not wanting to risk another serious injury to their biggest star. But how many game sevens does a player get to have? Will he be remiss having sat out in such a pivotal game, unable to help his team on the court? Missing that aura opportunity of a Willis Reed hobbling up and down the court inspiring his Knicks to game seven victory in the 1970 playoffs or Jordan's "flu game" versus the Jazz as he helped the Bulls take a commanding 3-2 playoff lead. Part of me thinks in game seven you don't show your hand by announcing your injury and sit in street clothes. You fake it till you make it. Inspire your teammates, confuse the opponent, give fans a story to tell for decades to come. But alas, all Tatum could do was stare into the groaning silence of the TD Garden as Tyrese Maxey took over in crunch time to send the Celtics fishing, and snatching any Celtic folklore tales to be told this playoff year.
Weekly Recap:
We're back! Swish had a full slate of action with the kick off of "The League" and some spicy 35+ contests...let's get to it.
Game one Tuesday night was a celebratory moment as we ushered in the first game of a new era. Combining the open and rec leagues into one formidable sixteen team summer season we got to see last year's second place finishers from the open league, Silent Storm vs one of the OG's in the league who are always game to play, Dad Bods. The Bods didn't seem to care much of the Storm's success last season as they came out firing with a fresh roster and a 55-34 lead at half. Newcomer Weston Zeller was doing significant damage for the Dads as he amassed 29 pts, 10 rebs and 4 dimes in his coming out party. OG Jassen Lopez had a big night as well, going for 23 pts, 8 rebs, 11 dimes and 5 thefts to help thwart the eye of the Storm and capture a win 103-85. The dynamic duo of Wilford Troup (36 pts) and Shawn Daniels (33 pts) weren't quite enough to starve the Bods of BBQ and beer at this party.
In game two of the night we got to see some new team names with some old friendly faces as Goon Squad bested Prime Time 69-60 behind smooth shooting Andres "Dre" Lovato and his 16 pts, 9 rebs and 2 dimes. Izaya Valencia chipped in 12 pts and a team high 4 dimes despite some ice cold shooting from the field but kept the pressure on the defense and converted 7 of 8 freebies. For Prime Time it was live or die by the three as they shot 9-31 from Steph land. Anthony Salcido was the only one primed this early in the season as he took all his attempts from beyond the arc (4-9), leading his team with 14 pts and 4 rebs.
To close out night one, Heatwave thumped Zia Elite 104-81. Martin Gracia said gracias for the opportunity to scorch Zia for a forty piece (41 pts). Fidel Gutierrez was surfing in the shade as he bully balled his way to 25 pts, 18 rebs and 8 dimes. For Zia, young Gio Nuñez introduced himself to the league with a 37 pt, 4 reb and 4 dime performance that had us all excited to see this young Elite's season. His old man, Oscar Nuñez helped dampen the demise with 18 pts, 5 rebs and 6 dimes.
We got a week one reckoning of open champs versus comp champs to kick off Wednesday as 505 Unit went at Santa Fe Style. The Unit's came out pumped from an obvious lifting session as they bulged their biceps early and often, taking a commanding 50-25 lead into the half. With three new additions doing significant damage, 505 is an early favorite. Lukas Turner swung the heaviest sledge going for 32 pts, 14 rebs and 6 dimes but had highly efficient help in this demo project from Juan Ortiz (16 pts), Donaevan Ricker (15 pts, 8 rebs) and Angel Parra looking healthy and scary going for 15 pts, 9 rebs and 4 dimes. For Santa Fe Style, usual suspects Cody Garcia (32 pts) and Chano Herrera (20 pts, 13 rebs) were lighting up sage sticks and flaunting turquoise jewelry best they could but could not climb out of that first half hole as Style lost 71-102.
Game two of the night turned out to be the game of the week with Blakes Lottabuckets winning a dramatic OT thriller over Medium Kings 61-57. For Blakes it was Chase Stafford whipping out togo orders and clutch shots en route to 25 pts and 7 rebs. Isaac Shanley assisted on the grill with a gutsy 22 pts and 10 rebs to secure the victory. For the Kings, Joseph Fresques held the crown as he netted 17 pts and Dedrick Johnson boxed out everyone near the throne to gather a game high 13 rips to compliment a dozen points.
The eight o'clock game gave us the first comeback story of the season as Mob battled a 29-33 halftime deficit to The Standard and squeaked out a 71-64 victory. Andrew Ellsworth did his best Al Capone impression leading Mob with 20 pts, 7 rebs and 5 dimes but he had the ideal muscle behind him with big man Matt Jackson putting up 19 pts and 10 rebs. For Standard, Carlos "Los" Quintana filled in for his friends and led the fray with 21 pts while Diego Alinas had a solid outing with 12 pts, 8 rebs, 2 dimes and 4 thefts.
Thursday night 35+ league had another slate of three games with IPS and FAZO kicking it off with a battle of the all caps. Team FAZO produced their gutsiest performance of the season behind 34 pts, 4 rebs and 3 dimes from Matt Brito, but it wasn't enough as they came up short 70-77. The acronyms put together a T.E.A.M effort of talent, effort, attitude and mentality around the inside/outside duo of Nate Naranjo (18 pts, 5 rebs and 4 dimes) and David Jaramillo (20 pts, 3 dimes) to usher in another big win on the season.
To tie a bow on the week was Mob dismantling Zia Elite early and often en route to a 97-63 win. Zia had no answer for big man Matt Jackson as he waltzed his way around the hardwood to the tune of 35 pts, 20 rebs, 3 dimes and a Mutumbo. The human swiss army knife, Eric Martinez came up one dime short of a triple double with 16 pts, 14 rebs and 9 dimes to stifle any hope for Zia. As for the Elite, Captain Oscar Nuñez did manage some sharp shooting and finished with 28 pts, 3 dimes and 5 thefts.
Reminder, with the inception of "The League" in action Wednesday nights and a busy summer schedule at Desert Sage Academy Gym we are only offering our free Open Gym time Mondays from 7-9pm for now. Also, keep up with your team's progress and all things Swish at our website, www.santafeswish.com. Hope everyone had a hoop dreamy weekend and we will see you all this week for another full slate of action!
Respect the game, Santa Fe Swish
