Month / November 2021

seth curry, philadelphia 76ers
by Alex Fischbein

Last night in the Atlantic (11/29/21)

It was a pretty uneventful Monday night as the Sixers were the lone team with a game and it was only against the lowly Orlando Magic.

Standings:
Brooklyn Nets 14-6
New York Knicks 11-9
Philadelphia 76ers 11-10
Boston Celtics 11-10
Toronto Raptors 9-12

Let’s talk about last night though!

Seth Curry

Seth Curry came to the rescue in the scoring department yet again! The theme of the Sixers having a great first quarter just to let it dwindle by the end also continued even against weak opponents. This time, however, they still get the win and get back on track after a bad stretch of 10 games with all of the injuries and Covid issues. Curry has been on the steadier presences on the team this year. He’s been great, especially during home games, as he’s been averaging around 17 ppg. There’s still much to be said about this team and whether or not they can have the success of previous years. Bonafide second and third scoring options are pretty much missing and it doesn’t seem like anything is going to change unless a couple of major trades happen. Ben Simmons coming back might help in the short term, but it doesn’t make this team an automatic contender like everyone thought they were last season.

Kemba Walker, New York Knicks
by Alex Fischbein

Kemba Walker gets benched | The Atlantic Files Ep205

On this week’s episode of the Atlantic Files, we welcome friend of the show, Tom Tran! Tom joined us to talk about Kemba Walker being benched, James Harden and the Brooklyn Nets’ offensive struggles, Joel Embiid back from Covid, and a debate about who the next number one pick should be!

The biggest news, by far, is that Kemba Walker is officially out of the rotation right now for the New York Knicks. This was nowhere close to the piece of news any of us thought we’d hear today. Coach Thibodeau must have been tired of giving up tons of leads when Kemba was in. Stat-wise, Kemba did have the worst +/- on the team!

James Harden and the Brooklyn Nets both struggled again on offense against a good opponent. This hasn’t been an uncommon theme so far this season. Harden has looked both out of shape and nothing close to what he was in Houston. When is it time to finally hit the panic button and send out the bat signal for Kyrie Irving?

Joel Embiid finally made his comeback debut from Covid. We’re all thankful that he got over the sickness as he talked about how rough of a battle it was for him. During his first game back, he posted a monster stat line but the Philadelphia 76ers took a tough loss in double overtime against Minnesota. Will the Sixers get back to their original hot streak ways?

Then, around the league, Michael Porter Jr was reportedly undergoing back surgery. He’s going to be out for the rest of the season and the Denver Nuggets are left to pick up the pieces without him and Jamal Murray. Also, are the Phoenix Suns contenders or pretenders?

Finally, we took a look at the upcoming NBA Draft and talked about who should be the next top pick. Who do you have between Chet Holmgren and Paolo Banchero?

Timecodes:
0:00 – Intro
2:13 – James Harden and the Brooklyn Nets struggles
18:05 – Phoenix Suns, contenders or pretenders?
25:45 – Michael Porter Jr. is out for the season
33:35 – Joel Embiid back from Covid but Sixers take a loss
51:20 – Kemba Walker is out of the New York Knicks rotation
54:45 – Chet Holmgren or Paolo Banchero, who should be the top pick?

marcus smart, boston celtics
by Alex Fischbein

Last night in the Atlantic (11/28/21)

Only a one-game slate of some Atlantic division action with two of the bottom three teams going at it!

Standings:
Brooklyn Nets 14-6
New York Knicks 11-9
Boston Celtics 11-10
Philadelphia 76ers 10-10
Toronto Raptors 9-12

Let’s talk about last night!

Marcus Smart

As I sat down to write this, I realized that we haven’t really highlighted Marcus Smart much at all this year. Sure, we might have mentioned his name on here and on the podcast, but not as the highlight guy. Well, this is his time to shine! Last night he guided the Boston Celtics to a nice win over a division opponent. He finished his well-rounded game with 21p, 8r, & 6a on 43.8% FG and 40% 3P. That guiding force is exactly what the Celtics need out of him more often, especially if Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown are going to combine for only 24 points! It was that veteran leadership on both ends combined with the same leadership of Al Horford that willed this team to a victory!

Fred VanVleet

On the other side of last night’s game, Fred VanVleet tried to do much of the same. He put up 27p, 6r, 3a, & 2s, on 8-16 FG and 5-10 3P! So, his shooting stats were much better compared to Smart, but the end result didn’t follow the trend. There’s only so much he can do when the rest of the team shot 33.8% from the floor combined…

Joel Embiid, Philadelphia 76ers, Sixers
by Alex Fischbein

Last night in the Atlantic (11/27/21)

I’m back everyone! Finally done moving enough that I can sit down and watch some basketball and talk about it for any of those that care to read and listen!

Standings:
Brooklyn Nets 14-6
New York Knicks 11-9
Boston Celtics 10-10
Philadelphia 76ers 10-10
Toronto Raptors 9-11

So let’s talk about last night!

Joel Embiid

If you didn’t tune in to the Sixers vs Timberwolves game last night, I really feel bad for you. Being at the game was even better, but I digress. Joel Embiid, in his first game back from Covid, put on a show for the home fans! He looked almost unstoppable until the last play of the game. His final stat line was 42p, 14r, 3a, 2b on 52.2% shooting from the floor. The superstar level Embiid was back, but he did seem a little skinnier and even more out of breath than usual. Hopefully, Covid didn’t take too much out of him. The game itself started off terribly for Philly only for them to come roaring back and force overtime. Then the sequence from D’Angelo Russell and Andre Drummond to force double overtime was even crazier. When it’s all said and done though, the Sixers could not complete the comeback and ultimately fell as their other three scorers only shot 37% or worse.

Alec Burks

The Knicks grabbed the lone Atlantic win last night and it was due in large part to Alec Burks! Derrick Rose and Kemba Walker were out and Julius Randle put up another stinker of a game, but Alec Burks with some help from Evan Fournier and RJ Barrett willed the team to a win. Burks was especially hot from three and he started looking very comfortable on every type of shot imaginable. Having a guy that can heat up like a microwave coming off of your bench and able to make spot starts is always a great commodity.

DeAndre’ Bembry

Brooklyn dropped another one to a top team from the West. They really looked like they just lacked scoring and we all know someone that could help in that department. If James Harden is only contributing 12 points, then you know it’s a tough game. DeAndre’ Bembry chipped in with some great minutes though. He was the only positive player in the starting five! 18p, 9r, & 2s was the line he finished with.

LeBron James, Isaiah Stewart, Fight
by Alex Fischbein

LeBron James draws blood | The Atlantic File

On this week’s episode of the Atlantic Files, LeBron James draws blood from Isaiah Stewart, Luke Walton loses his job, Jayson Tatum is good again, plus Cade Cunningham is finally making his Rookie of the Year argument.

By now, everyone has probably seen the fight between LeBron James and Isaiah Stewart. Stewart had some serious blood coming from his eye and he was rightfully pissed off. All of these reports say that James didn’t mean any harm, but the video seems to say otherwise. Also, does anyone really buy that LeBron James, of all people, couldn’t “track down” Stewart’s phone number? 

Luke Walton, now former coach of the Sacramento Kings, is on the lookout for another job. If there’s anyone who knows chaos out of the NBA franchises, it’s definitely the Kings. Hopefully, they don’t think that this is going to fix their entire team and all of their problems. That would just somehow be very Kings-esque though.

A couple of episodes ago, we talked about how Jayson Tatum wasn’t pulling his own weight. Since then, both Tatum and the Boston Celtics have been much improved. Tatum’s percentages and all-around game have gone up and looked worlds better. Could a Jaylen Brown for Bradley Beal trade work out? 

On top of that, we discussed Cade Cunningham starting to show his true potential!

Timecodes:
0:00 – Intro
1:38 – Golden State Warriors are highly lethal
11:42 – LeBron James and Isaiah Stewart fight
22:10 – Cade Cunningham showing his true potential
29:28 – Jayson Tatum looking more like Jayson Tatum
39:10 – Luke Walton fired by the Sacramento Kings

James Harden, Brooklyn Nets
by Alex Fischbein

Last night in the Atlantic (11/17/21)

Brooklyn, at least, bounced back last night! Can’t really say the same about the Knicks or the Celtics though…

Standings:
Brooklyn Nets 11-5
New York Knicks 8-7
Philadelphia 76ers 8-7
Boston Celtics 7-8
Toronto Raptors 7-8

So let’s talk about last night!

James Harden

Sort of feels like a broken record to say that James Harden is finally looking more and more like himself. It’s been a process, a slow one at that, but he’s progressing! MVP level Harden is going to need to show up for the Nets to beat teams like the Warriors. Especially if Kyrie isn’t going to come back, everyone except KD has to step up. Harden finished this one with 27p, 10r, 7a.

Jayson Tatum

Jayson Tatum was getting back to business! His efficiency was back up, he was unstoppable again, and he was pouring in buckets! The rest of the team and the team’s defense was a completely different story. I just enjoyed watching Tatum again though after a stretch of some bad games that were just hard to watch all-around. Despite his 34p, 9r, 5a, the team slipped to below .500 again.

New York Knicks

I don’t even need a video to talk about the Knicks this time. The way this team went from looking legit to looking horrid so fast is crazy! Between October and November, it’s like we’ve seen two completely different Knicks teams. Evan Fournier, RJ Barrett, and Julius Randle have been in the forefront of this skid too…

Bruce Brown, Brooklyn Nets
by Alex Fischbein

Last night in the Atlantic (11/16/21)

Both Philly and Brooklyn went up against a couple of the top Western teams and fell pretty hard. The loss was a little uglier for the Nets since it was a battle of the MVP’s and by the time the game was over, the home crowd was chanting MVP at the opposing player…

Standings:
Brooklyn Nets 10-5
New York Knicks 8-6
Philadelphia 76ers 8-7
Boston Celtics 7-7
Toronto Raptors 7-8

So let’s talk about last night.

Bruce Brown

Bruce Brown gave Steph Curry some great bulletin board material when he was laughing about Curry being a good player. Whether he meant it in a disrespectful way or not, it seemed like Curry took it personally. Steph dropped 37, but Bruce Brown had one of the more efficient games for the Nets starting five. He ended up with 14p, 5r, 3a, 3s on 6-8 shooting. He has for sure earned the minutes that he’s getting right now and when you’re going up against the greatest shooter of all time, then you’ll take your lumps. For his role, he played it very well, but the stars just did not play star-like enough to win.

Shake Milton

Honestly, there’s not a whole lot to say about this game for the Sixers. Shake Milton was the lead scorer with 18 points, but that was on 7-19 shooting. Joel Embiid is desperately needed on this team if they want to get back into form. Not having Matisse Thybulle doesn’t help either on the defensive end. Covid really shoved a thorn in the side of this team recently, hopefully, they can bounce back.

Kevin Durant

Here is some quality Stephen A. Smith entertainment as he talked about Kevin Durant making the wrong decision by going to Brooklyn.

Al Horford, Boston Celtics
by Alex Fischbein

Last night in the Atlantic (11/15/21)

Boston and New York grab themselves a win while Toronto continues their slide. Which makes it weirder that Toronto was also the one with the best offense in their respective games.

Standings:
Brooklyn Nets 10-4
Philadelphia 76ers 8-6
New York Knicks 8-6
Boston Celtics 7-7
Toronto Raptors 7-8

So let’s talk about last night!

Al Horford

Al Horford is the one getting highlighted right now, instead of Jayson Tatum, because he made the same amount shots that Tatum did in 10 fewer attempts. He also hit one more three but didn’t get the free throws to bolster his point total. Horford has been playing some very meaningful minutes lately as the Celtics have needed him dearly in every win of theirs. He’s provided the inside presence when Robert Williams isn’t on the floor and he’s also given them some floor spacing and defensive leadership. While it was a great move to bring him back this season, they’re still going to need a bit more than just Horford. He ended up with 17p, 9r, 3a, & 2b.

OG Anunoby

OG Anunoby cashed in another great offensive night for the Toronto Raptors. 29 points on 9-19 from the floor and 6-10 from three is not too shabby of a performance. Everyone in the starting five actually shot 42% or higher, but the bench minutes were the biggest minus in this game. That’s where Portland started pulling away, any time each time had their bench players in. Anunoby, on the other hand, added 6r, 2a, 3s to his 29 and did a great job keeping the Raptors in this game.

Derrick Rose

This New York Knicks game was quite ugly. Which has been the case the last handful of games if we’re being honest. Derrick Rose put together a nice stat line off the bench with 14p, 5r, & 7a. The main reason I decided to highlight him over the leading scorer, Kemba Walker, is because he also took the team on their best scoring runs. Rose was +21 compared to Walker’s -15 because he was affecting the game in more ways than just straight scoring. There have been legitimate arguments for Derrick Rose being moved to starting point guard, but it looks like there are more issues than just that in the month of November.

Ben Simmons

Ben Simmons is receiving fines yet again. This time for missing the team’s west coast road trip. If you listen to the latest episode of our podcast, we talked a bit about this saga and the role Rich Paul is playing in the whole thing. I wish both sides would just set the record straight without having to talk through agents, media, and other talking heads. Once this is resolved, both parties can finally breathe a sigh of relief and just move on with life.

Jayson Tatum, Kemba Walker, Rich Paul, The Atlantic files
by Alex Fischbein

The Atlantic Files Ep203 – Jayson Tatum, Kemba Walker, Rich Paul, who’s worse?

On this week’s episode of the Atlantic Files, Jayson Tatum’s percentages and stats are slipping, Rich Paul might not actually be a good agent, and Kemba Walker isn’t helping too much win-wise.

The Boston Celtics have very well-documented shortcomings. Ime Udoka has been a bit of a disaster as head coach, the supporting cast is bad, and now Jayson Tatum is starting to suffer a bit due to the rest of the team being that bad. As we all know, the offense is run everything through Tatum and Jaylen Brown. Now that Brown is out, Tatum has to score enough to beat teams by himself since no one else is. Looks like only a trade is going to save them now.

Speaking of players who aren’t exactly playing up to expectations, Kemba Walker hasn’t exactly done what the fans hoped he would so far. His offense has been quite limited, his minutes need to be limited so that he doesn’t get hurt, and he’s never exactly been a defensive force. On top of that, the primary guys like Julius Randle, RJ Barrett, and Evan Fournier have all seen a dip in production in the month of November. This month is a stark difference compared to October.

Rich Paul is yet another guy that we were told is supposed to be very good at what he does. He’s the agent for a lot of NBA players these days and it makes you think that he should be good. Is he really that good of an agent or is he another guy that’s just riding LeBron James’ coattails? His handling of the whole Ben Simmons situation hasn’t exactly made anything easier or closer to a resolution.

After those main topics, we also dive into Tyrese Maxey vs Ben Simmons, Talen Horton-Tucker vs Alex Caruso, Scottie Barnes vs Evan Mobley, and who we all have for MVP!

Timecodes:
0:00 – Intro
1:25 – Fantasy Basketball debate
7:00 – Scottie Barnes or Evan Mobley for Rookie of the Year
13:10 – What’s happening to Jayson Tatum?
25:30 – Should Kemba Walker be moved to a sixth-man role?
37:10 – Rich Paul really is not a great agent
45:20 – Tyrese Maxey or Ben Simmons, who would you take?
56:10 – Talen Horton-Tucker vs Alex Caruso, did the Los Angeles Lakers make a mistake?
1:00:22 – Who is the real MVP this year, Steph Curry, Kevin Durant, or Nikola Jokic?

Patty Mills, Brooklyn Nets
by Alex Fischbein

Last night in the Atlantic (11/14/21)

Sunday was quite a relaxing one with only one Atlantic game. Atlantic fans, even Brooklyn Nets fans who had the game, could all just chill and watch some football.

Standings:
Brooklyn Nets 10-4
Philadelphia 76ers 8-6
New York Knicks 7-6
Toronto Raptors 7-7
Boston Celtics 6-7

So let’s talk about last night.

Patty Mills

Patty Mills added another great game to his Sixth Man of the Year candidacy. Even though this was a homecoming for both Kevin Durant and James Harden, Mills stole the show. He hoisted up 12 threes and made nine of them! The game overall wasn’t even a super competitive one as we all know that Oklahoma City is in year 25 of their rebuild right now. Mills and Durant didn’t let that stop them from scoring 29 and 33 points each! Everything was falling with ease and Mills looked like he was just playing a fun game of playground hoops.