Sorare NBA | Game Week 48 Primer

Welcome to the Sorare NBA Game Week 48 Primer!

It’s the regular season finale, and man did these past 48 Game Weeks fly. It’s been an honor and pleasure to break down the slate for you each Monday and Friday over the last seven months — and I truly appreciate everyone who’s taken the time to read!

One last time for the 2022-23 season — the next round of action kicks off today, and we're here to break down all the relevant information for the upcoming slate. Lineups lock at 6:50 p.m. EST — with the upcoming contests running Tuesday-Thursday.

Let’s get into all the action for this week of hoops:

P.S. — If you’re interested in Sorare MLB, check out our man Hunter’s Game Week breakdowns on the baseball side!

Game Week Rewind ⏮

The MVP race is likely a wrap.

Joel Embiid put the final punctuation on a dazzling season this week, with a 52-point (20/25 FG), 13-rebound, 6-assist masterpiece in a win over the rival Boston Celtics. His 78 Sorare Points led the GW47 slate, and the big man seems to have the voting momentum behind him with the regular season about to come to a close.

(Editor’s Note: Twitter links are currently being blocked from being embedded in Substack, so all text links today 😢)

A fun aside — it’s wild that Embiid didn’t even start playing basketball until he was a teenager. An older story went viral this week which details him learning to shoot a basketball from watching videos on YouTube. Whatever videos he watched, it certainly worked!

Multi-Game Monitor 🗓

Injury & Roster Info 🏥

Here are some notable (not all-inclusive) injury/lineup situations to monitor and plan for ahead of this week's games.

The information below is as of Friday, April 7, but can give broader insights for the rest of the Game Week.

Ruled Out  ❌

• Mitchell Robinson, NYK (rest), Mo Wagner, ORL (ankle), Jimmy Butler, MIA (hand), Kyle Lowry, MIA (knee), PJ Tucker, PHI (calf), Tyrese Maxey, PHI (neck), Joel Embiid, PHI (rest), James Harden, PHI (injury recovery), Bam Adebayo, MIA (quad), Maxi Kleber, Josh Green, Christian Wood, Tim Hardaway Jr., Kyrie Irving, DAL (tanking), Rodney McGruder, DET, Alec Burks, DET, Khris Middleton, MIL (knee), Brook Lopez, MIL (rest), Jrue Holiday, MIL (rest), Giannis Antetokounmpo, MIL (knee), Bradley Beal, WAS (rest), Kyle Kuzma, WAS (injury management), Monte Morris, WAS (ankle), Kristaps Porzingis, WAS (illness), Jalen Brunson, NYK (injury management), Terry Rozier, CHA, Kelly Oubre, CHA, PJ Washington, CHA (foot), Gordon Hayward, CHA (thumb), Tyrese Haliburton, IND (ankle), DeMar Derozan, CHI (rest), Zach Lavine, CHI (rest), Patrick Beverley, CHI (rest), Jaylen Brown, BOS (finger), Tyler Herro, MIA (quad)

Doubtful 🤕

• Chris Paul, Kevin Durant, Deandre Ayton, Devin Booker, PHO (rest), De’Anthony Melton, PHI (calf), Devin Vassell, SAS (injury management), Jeremy Sochan, SAS (knee)

Questionable ❓

• Kevin Love, MIA (rib), Tobias Harris, PHI (injury recovery), Max Strus, MIA (finger), Gary Harris, ORL (adductor), Franz Wagner, ORL (ankle), Markelle Fultz, ORL (knee), Wendell Carter Jr., ORL (hip), Paolo Banchero, ORL (back), Keegan Murray, SAC (foot), Kevin Huerter, SAC (injury management), Domantas Sabonis, SAC (ankle), De’Aaron Fox, SAC (ankle), Anthony Davis, LAL (foot), RJ Barrett, NYK (illness), Dennis Smith Jr., CHA (toe), Marcus Smart, BOS (neck), Malcolm Brogdon, BOS (back), Derrick White, BOS (ankle), De’Andre Hunter, ATL (knee), TJ McConnell, IND (hip), Jalen Smith, IND (knee), Myles Turner, IND (ankle), Alex Caruso, CHI (injury management)

Make sure to watch the news today, as most of the typical rotational players are probably done for the season.

As injury information is breaking at all hours prior to lineups locking, an excellent resource for up-to-date news is the Underdog NBA Twitter account.

Value Plays 🤑

Last Game Week's Value Pick Performances:

Player | L10 | GW 47 Performance 

• Jordan Goodwin, 12 L10, 34 Sorare Points (+22) 🔥🔥

• Delon Wright, 18 L10, ruled out both games with injury 🤕

• Johnny Davis, 9 L10, 44 Sorare Points (+35) 🔥🔥🔥

• Svi Mykhailiuk, 18 L10, 36 Sorare Points (+18) 🔥

• Theo Maledon, 15 L10, 33 Sorare Points (+18) 🔥

• James Bouknight, 6 L10, 9 Sorare Points (+3) ❌

• Bryce McGowens, 9 L10, 26 Sorare Points (+ 17) 🔥

• Shaedon Sharpe, 27 L10, 39 Sorare Points (+12) 🔥

• Drew Eubanks, 20 L10, 55 Sorare Points (+35) 🔥🔥🔥

• Jabari Walker, 9 L10, 24 Sorare Points (+15) 🔥

• Bennedict Mathurin, 19 L10, 22 Sorare Points (+3) ❌

• Obi Toppin, 12 L10, 45 Sorare Points (+33) 🔥🔥🔥

• Julian Champagnie, 11 L10, 39 Sorare Points (+28) 🔥🔥

Game Week 48 Value Picks:

*Note — these selections are based purely on L10 value in lineups — and do not consider the auction or market prices of the players listed.

These are going to be a bit more abbreviated, as the message is pretty much the same — everyone is ruled out, and the reserves are getting the opportunity to shine in the last weekend of the season.

Kendrick Nunn | 9 L10, Jordan Goodwin | 17 L10, Johnny Davis | 14 L10, Daniel Gafford | 21 L10 — We’ve had more of an extended look at the reserve rotation in Washington, with the team sitting their top players frequently over the last few weeks. This past game week saw the foursome above take on the bulk of the stat sheet, and the last two games should continue to provide an excellent environment for big value.

Jevon Carter | 15 L10, Marjon Beauchamp | 4 L10 — Nearly the entire Bucks’ starting 5 (Antetokounmpo, Holiday, Lopez, Middleton) has been ruled out for Friday, and with Milwaukee already locking up the one seed its doubtful we see any of the stars in the second game as the team rests for the playoffs. Two players I think should see minutes and be able to provide some serious value are Jevon Carter and Marjon Beauchamp. Carter has put up huge statlines when seeing added minutes, and Beauchamp flashed earlier this season.

The Usual Suspects: Charlotte

• Bryce McGowens | 11 L10

• Svi Mykhailiuk | 23 L10

• Theo Maledon | 19 L10

Dalen Terry | 5 L10, Andre Drummond | 16 L10, Derrick Jones Jr. | 11 L10, Ayo Dosunmu | 14 L10 — The Bulls are locked into the 10 seed and have nothing to gain over the next two, meaning we likely see Zach Lavine, DeMar DeRozan and Nikola Vucevic sit.

Bonus Picks:

• Cam Payne | 18 L10, Jock Landale | 11 L10, other Phoenix starters

• Obi Toppin | 15 L10

• Julian Champagnie | 15 L10

• Bol Bol | 12 L10

Live Before Lock 🔒

Got last-minute lineup questions? I'll be on Mike Zakarian / Team Hold's  Live Before Lock stream every Monday and Friday at 5:30 PM EST (Tuesday instead of Monday this week due to the NCAA Championship), breaking down all the news, lineup questions and value plays right before the Game Week locks. Join us for some fun (and giveaways) tonight!

Thanks for reading this season! — Ghost

Follow Ghost on Twitter @Ghost_Z12.

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