Month / April 2022

brooklyn nets, boston celtics, kevin durant, kyrie irving, ben simmons, atlantic files
by Alex Fischbein

Brooklyn Nets get swept | The Atlantic Files Ep225

This week on the Atlantic Files podcast, the Brooklyn Nets officially get swept out of the first round by the Boston Celtics, the Philadelphia 76ers are starting to look like the first team that will blow a 3-0 lead, Luka Doncic comes back and dominates, and the NBA playoffs roll on!

The biggest topic, especially for our podcast, is the Brooklyn Nets getting swept right out of the first round by the Boston Celtics. Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving looked like deer in headlights and the Celtics now all of a sudden look like they’re championship bound. Ime Udoka has the boys in green playing like a superstar-level squad.

On the opposite end of the spectrum, you have the Philadelphia 76ers on the verge of making a bad kind of history. They went up 3-0 on the Toronto Raptors and the entire city of Philadelphia started talking their trash. Now, Joel Embiid is hurt and Toronto has won two straight. Scary times for the Philly fans.

Jimmy Butler and Kyle Lowry are hurt yet again, but the Miami Heat won their matchup with the Atlanta Hawks anyway. Are the Hawks that bad or are the Heat actually a championship-level team?

Chronicles of the Utah Jazz is taking place as they tank their series against Luka Doncic and the Dallas Mavericks as well. It’s time for a blow up and rebuild job in the Salt Lake City!

All of that and more NBA Playoffs topics!

Timecodes:
0:00 – Intro
2:30 – Can the Toronto Raptors make history?
17:10 – Brooklyn Nets are a mess and Ben Simmons is still missing
28:39 – Are the Boston Celtics championship level?
32:42 – Are the Miami Heat that good or Atlanta Hawks that bad
37:08 – Thoughts on the Ben Simmons James Harden trade now
45:45 – Minnesota Timberwolves blowing leads and KAT fake tough
50:33 – New Orleans Pelicans are looking good!
57:50 – Golden State Warriors back in the title picture

Joel Embiid, Jayson Tatum, Philadelphia 76ers, Boston celtics, nba playoffs 2022, atlantic files
by Alex Fischbein

Joel Embiid the foul merchant? | The Atlantic Files Ep224

On this week’s episode of the Atlantic Files Podcast, Joel Embiid continues to be called a foul merchant as the Philadelphia 76ers roll through the Toronto Raptors, Jayson Tatum and the Boston Celtics took game one over the Brooklyn Nets with a buzzer-beater, the NBA Playoffs are in full swing, and some of the regular season awards have been handed out and some questionable finalists have been announced!

On top of the big topics this week, we recorded our live reactions to the Celtics vs Nets and Sixers vs Raptors games as they went on during the time we were recording!

Toronto Raptors fans, players, and even coaches have all been complaining about foul calls against the Sixers. Joel Embiid and James Harden have gone to the line quite a bit through the first two games and of course that must mean there’s a conspiracy. Embiid ended up hitting a game-winning three and took more jumpers than the first two games as the Sixers still won. So what’s the excuse now?

In the other Atlantic matchup, the Boston Celtics are now up 2-0! Jayson Tatum hit his own game-winning shot in game one and then Kevin Durant absolutely disappeared in game two. Mike had to drop off the podcast to focus on the game as it was slipping through the Nets’ fingers before our eyes.

Devin Booker injured his hamstring in a game where the New Orleans Pelicans stole a game on the road. Now he’s out for two games in New Orleans and the Pelicans’ chances all of a sudden skyrocketed compared to what they were before. Could they pull off the upset?

Marcus Smart was named Defensive Player of the Year and was the first lead guard to get the award since Gary Payton. Is he the most deserving of the award, or should Mikal Bridges or Rudy Gobert have won?

Finally, Nikola Jokic got ejected and his Denver Nuggets were blown out in the first two games against the Golden State Warriors. It seems like he’s going to be named the MVP, but his MVP ways aren’t helping the team win any games in the playoffs so far.

Chapters:
0:00 – Intro
2:10 – Marcus Smart wins DPoY
7:06 – Live look and reaction of Boston Celtics vs Brooklyn Nets Game 2
11:51 – Devin Booker injured, can New Orleans win
20:15 – Live look and reaction to Philadelphia 76ers vs Toronto Raptors Game 3
25:47 – Tyrese Maxey and Jordan Poole snubbed for MIP
35:11 – Check in with Nets vs Celtics
38:14 – Nikola Jokic ejected and blown out by the Warriors
41:41 – Should the Utah Jazz blow it up and restart
45:52 – Another check-in with Nets vs Celtics
46:27 – Nick Nurse and Raptors complaining too much

2022 NBA playoffs, phoenix suns, milwaukee bucks, boston celtics, atlantic files
by Alex Fischbein

2022 NBA Playoff predictions | The Atlantic Files Ep223

This week on the Atlantic Files Podcast, as the NBA play-in games take place we predict what will happen with the 2022 NBA Playoffs, predictions for all of the end-of-the-year awards, Dennis has some things to say about the Los Angeles Lakers, Matisse Thybulle lets his team down, Adam Silver has a resting problem in the NBA, and more!

The 2022 NBA Playoffs have arrived! At the time of this recording, the final seeds of each conference were still being decided. One more play-in game and then we officially have the playoff bracket filled out and ready to go. We give all of our predictions throughout the entire 2022 playoffs!

We’ve talked about them a couple of times now, but we wanted to make one final statement about the 2022 NBA regular season awards as well. We give our final predictions on those and even debate the MVP in terms of Nikola Jokic versus Joel Embiid and who deserves to take the home award more.

Dennis wasn’t able to join the episode last week when we originally talked about the Los Angeles Lakers. He wanted to let the world know how much the Lakers suck and that the blame falling on Russell Westbrook is not all deserving. Sure, he might not have played like the normal Westbrook, but the team had a lot more flaws. Also, we talk about who the next coach could be.

Matisse Thybulle now can’t play in Toronto during the playoffs. Of course, the Philadelphia 76ers drew the Toronto Raptors in their first round matchup so now he can’t play three of the possible seven games in the series. This is going to throw a huge wrench in their defense. Can the Sixers advance?

Finally, some off-basketball topics we discuss are the fact that Alex got engaged this past weekend, Mike being in the final week of tax season, and Bosco the dog making a guest appearance along with Alex’s fiance Deanna!

Chapters:
0:00 – Intro and Alex got engaged!
6:51 – Los Angeles Lakers suck
19:19 – Steph Curry turns down playing with LeBron
22:28 – 2022 NBA Playoffs Predictions
53:15 – Matisse Thybulle can’t play in Toronto
56:23 – More NBA Playoffs predictions
1:02:45 – Final regular season award predictions

LeBron James, Anthony Davis, Los Angeles Lakers, Atlantic Files, Podcast
by Alex Fischbein

LeBron and Los Angeles Lakers crumble | The Atlantic Files Ep222

This week on the Atlantic Files Podcast, LeBron James and the Los Angeles Lakers are officially eliminated from the playoffs and rumors of Doc Rivers taking over as head coach has already begun, Ben Simmons officially files a grievance against the Philadelphia 76ers, Chris Paul sets another win record for yet another team, and the play-in teams are finally decided!

As we’re sure you’ve heard by now from the numerous media outlets, the Los Angeles Lakers are officially out of the playoffs! The “good on paper, but old on the court” strategy did not go so well for them this year. Plenty of moves are in store for them in the off-season, and it’s bound to get crazy.

One of those moves seems to be for a new head coach. Doc Rivers, even though he’s still coaching for the Philadelphia 76ers and hasn’t been rumored to be fired, is near the top of the list to come coach in LA. Not exactly sure how that works since he still has a job elsewhere, but hey, it’s LeBron and the Lakers, rules don’t apply.

Almost all of the play-in tournament games are decided at this point. The only one waiting is the seventh seed out West between the Denver Nuggets and Minnesota Timberwolves. Either way, we give our predictions on who would be coming out of each play-in tournament in both conferences.

Another chapter to the Ben Simmons saga has officially been added. He officially filed the rumored grievance against the Sixers to recoup somewhere around $20M. This will surely take away all attention from the team only hovering around an eighth or ninth seed, right?

Finally, Chris Paul adds more to his impressive resume. He has now been a part of four separate teams’ records for most wins in a single season. He’s helped the Hornets, Clippers, Rockets, and now Suns all reach their best win total for a season. That’s insane!

Timecodes:
0:00 – Intro and Season Ticket debacle
3:35 – The NBA play-in tournament and who will win
17:52 – Los Angeles Lakers eliminated & Windhorst report
21:42 – Doc Rivers the next Lakers head coach?
26:41 – Chris Paul sets another single-season win record
28:26 – Ben Simmons files a grievance and out through play-in tourney
30:00 – Closing thoughts