Tag / jayson tatum

Boston Celtics, NBA Playoffs 2022, Atlantic Files
by Alex Fischbein

Boston Celtics NBA Finals bound? | The Atlantic Files Ep228

This week on the Atlantic Files Podcast, we talk about the absolute embarrassment of a Game Seven that the Phoenix Suns endured, the Boston Celtics taking down the reigning NBA Champs and looking like a surefire championship team, Ja Morant’s injury issues, previews of both Conference Finals, what the Philadelphia 76ers should do with James Harden, whether Doc Rivers or Daryl Morey are at fault for what happened to the Sixers, if Sean Marks was justified in calling out Kyrie Irving and Ben Simmons, and more!

First of all, the Boston Celtics are the only remaining Atlantic Division team in the NBA Playoffs. They were the ones who started the season in the most disappointing fashion and after turning it completely around, they now look like they can really win a championship. Will they be able to pull off a win over the Miami Heat and then eventually an NBA Finals win?

In the West, the Dallas Mavericks are fresh off of a complete drubbing of the Phoenix Suns. Devin Booker talked his way right out of the playoffs as Luka Doncic laughed them right off the court. Now, he has to go up against the dynasty that is the Golden State Warriors. Are the Warriors a lock to make the Finals with their experience?

Ja Morant, after suffering a few injuries during the season, also was injured a couple of times in the playoffs. Is he beginning to be too injury-prone for Memphis to be considered a legit contender?

Since we have both Conference Finals series set in stone, it’s time to preview each one. We give our thoughts on the X-Factors for each series as well as our predictions for who wins in how many games.

Finally, we have a sort of grabbag of a handful of topics. The Philadelphia 76ers have a huge decision to make with James Harden and his contract, Doc Rivers and Daryl Morey are fighting to see who takes the most blame for this season, how would Mike D’Antoni fit in LaMelo Ball and Charlotte’s offense, Sean Marks comments about the Brooklyn Nets and Kyrie Irving, and whether the Celtics used a dirty tactic with Robert Williams III injury status.

Timecodes:
0:00 – Intro
2:48 – Phoenix Suns get embarrassed by Luka Doncic and Dallas Mavericks
17:36 – Boston Celtics took down Milwaukee, are they NBA Finals bound?
27:14 – Celtics acted shady with Robert Williams III injury status
30:34 – Would the Phoenix Suns trade Deandre Ayton
34:03 – Is Mike D’Antoni a good fit for Charlotte and LaMelo Ball
40:13 – Doc Rivers or Daryl Morey, who’s more at fault in Philadelphia
59:24 – NBA Eastern Conference Finals preview
1:09:09 – NBA Western Conference Finals preview

Joel Embiid, Philadelphia 76ers, NBA Playoffs 2022, Atlantic Files
by Alex Fischbein

Joel Embiid broke his face | The Atlantic Files Ep226

This week on the Atlantic Files, we welcome Brady from Rotoballer and Tap That Podcast to talk Joel Embiid orbital fracture and mild concussion against Toronto, the Philadelphia 76ers get blown out in Miami, do the Boston Celtics have a chance against the Bucks, what do the Brooklyn Nets do next, Pascal Siakam trade rumors, and do the Utah Jazz stick with Donovan Mitchell or Rudy Gobert?

During the final minutes of Game six, Joel Embiid was elbowed in the face by Pascal Siakam and suffered an orbital fracture. Does the blame for this fall on Doc Rivers’ shoulders or is it just an unfortunate accident? Also, do the Philadelphia 76ers have a chance of taking a game before Embiid gets back and winning the series?

The Boston Celtics suffered a pretty bad loss in Game One of their series against the Milwaukee Bucks. Do they have a chance to come back in this series now that they lost home-court advantage? The reigning champs look as good as ever even without their number two scoring option. Boston’s defense and big two have been on a mission though.

After a very disappointing season, the Brooklyn Nets are now faced with a bunch of tough decisions. Do they extend Kyrie Irving and Bruce Brown? Could they trade Ben Simmons for enough in return to make it worthwhile?

Lately, there have been some rumors surrounding the Toronto Raptors trading Pascal Siakam. This is a big-time headscratcher as Siakam was key in their series against the Sixers. There are lot more moves they can make that don’t involve trading one of their best players.

Finally, the issues in Utah are finally coming to a boiling point. They need to trade either Rudy Gobert or Donovan Mitchell, so who should go?

Timecodes:
0:00 – Intro
3:54 – Is Joel Embiid’s injury Doc Rivers’ fault?
21:44 – What do the Brooklyn Nets do now in the offseason?
35:15 – Pascal Siakam trade rumors don’t make sense
41:25 – Should the Utah Jazz trade Rudy Gobert or Donovan Mitchell?
50:43 – Will Golden State’s death lineup or Ja Morant prevail?
1:06:17 – Do the Boston Celtics have a chance against the Milwaukee Bucks?

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

brooklyn nets, kevin durant, kyrie irving, seth curry, ben simmons
by Alex Fischbein

Brooklyn Nets becoming the next what if | The Atlantic Files Ep217

On this week’s episode of the Atlantic Files, the Brooklyn Nets continue to lose some needed ground in the standings as they await Kyrie Irving, Kevin Durant, and Ben Simmons to return, the James Harden experience is alive and well in Philadelphia, both the Toronto Raptors and Boston Celtics are making playoff pushes, and the New York Knicks are stuck trying to figure out what’s going on.

The latest news coming out of the Ben Simmons saga is that now he has back issues and is regarded as “week to week.” Rich Paul even told Brian Windhorst that Simmons most likely won’t even be ready to come back in the month of March. Kevin Durant is finally coming back on March 3 while we’re all still waiting for a decision from the New York City Mayor on whether or not Kyrie Irving is going to be able to play full time again.

Let’s also not forget that the Nets are currently in the play-in territory, so if everything doesn’t go their way, they could be the next biggest ‘what if’ story for the NBA.

James Harden’s honeymoon period with the Philadelphia 76ers is going as well as anyone could have imagined! They’re now 3-0 since he’s been playing and he’s almost put up triple-doubles in every one of them. Joel Embiid has talked about the fact that he’s never been this wide open in his career and Tyrese Maxey is putting up more than 20 points per game as well. Is this all sustainable?

Coming from the depths, the Toronto Raptors and Boston Celtics are both making playoff pushes. Which team can make it further come playoff time?

Finally, we have the New York Knicks, yet again, bringing up the rear. The team has been quite the dumpster fire this season. After such a successful season last year, it’s so disappointing to see it all just fall apart this year. What should they do for the rest of the year and into the off-season?

Timecodes:
0:00 – Intro
2:14 – Ben Simmons out until April, Kevin Durant coming back
15:47 – If the Brooklyn Nets don’t win a ring, are they a failure?
21:13 – James Harden in Philadelphia is off to a great start
32:17 – The better playoff team, Boston Celtics or Toronto Raptors
49:36 – What should the New York Knicks do now?

Jayson Tatum, Jaylen Brown, Boston Celtics
by Alex Fischbein

State of the Boston Celtics | The Atlantic Files Ep211

On this week’s episode of the Atlantic Files, Alec Walt of Down The Block Sports and the Alec Walt Show joins the show to talk about the state of the Boston Celtics and the 2022 NBA All-Star vote returns!

Alec Walt is a friend of the show as well as a Boston Celtics expert. He’s broken down every aspect of the team over the years he’s been covering sports and he’s an avid sports fan and analyst in all different avenues of sports. You’ll find the link to his show below!

The Boston Celtics have been a head-scratching sort of team this season. They have two of the brightest young stars in the league with the tandem of Jaylen Brown and Jayson Tatum, but that’s where it pretty much ends. Everyone else on the roster except for maybe Marcus Smart and Robert Williams III isn’t much to write home about. On top of that, they have a rookie head coach who has made some very questionable decisions so far.

Now, the age-old question comes about. Will the Boston Celtics make a trade and will it be one of their young stars on the move? Jaylen Brown has had a lot of buzz in the rumor mill about potentially being shipped away. Maybe that’s what this team needs to bring in a guy like Bradley Beal.

Say they make a deal, however, is Ime Udoka the one that leads this team to the promised land? Should he even last as head coach for more than this one season?

After all of our Boston Celtics conversations, we brought up the latest voting returns for the 2022 NBA All-Star game. Some of these fans have gone crazy with which players are currently listed as a starter and others who aren’t even close. This All-Star game is going to be one of the weirdest if all of these results hold up.

Check out the Alec Walt Show on Down The Block Sports: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCfkP-VMF1Uhioz23EfjDPtA

Timecodes:
0:00 – Intro
1:48 – Boston Celtics breakdown, how’d they get here?
12:37 – Should the Celtics trade either Jayson Tatum or Jaylen Brown
23:13 – Myles Turner a potential trade target?
31:17 – Should the Celtics keep Ime Udoka for more than one year?
37:29 – 2022 NBA All-Star voting returns

Boston Celtics, Jayson Tatum
by Alex Fischbein

Last night in the Atlantic (12/13/21)

Both Boston and Toronto had very solid nights last night. The Sixers on the other hand… Not so much.

Standings:
Brooklyn Nets(1) 19-8
Philadelphia 76ers(6) 15-13
Boston Celtics(9) 14-14
Toronto Raptors(10) 13-14
New York Knicks 12-15

Let’s talk about last night!

Jayson Tatum

Let’s just start off with the guy who put up over 40 points last night en route to a win over the defending champs! The team did a great job defensively to limit the threes from Milwaukee and then led by Tatum, they were on fire from the offensive end. Boston as a whole shot 50% from the field and 42.6% from three! Jayson Tatum ended up with 42 points on 64% shooting from the field overall and 53.8% from three!

Charles Bassey

Since the Sixers got blown out again with both of their first and second scoring options ruled out of the game about five minutes before tipoff, we’re highlighting a rookie that finally got some playing time! Yes, we called Seth Curry the second scoring option. Charles Bassey, however, stepped in and got himself a double-double! Bassey has been able to deliver some productive minutes when given the chance and seems like he could be a decent backup center option for the Sixers if they didn’t keep Drummond around after this season. They need to worry about some other things right now though.

Justin Champagnie

Time to highlight another rookie, but on the Toronto Raptors! This time it isn’t Scottie Barnes. Justin Champagnie cashed in a productive game during his 25 minutes of play! The Pitt grad finished with 10p, 4r, 2s, and 1b. He was one of nine Raptors players to finish with double digits in points and he helped the team coast to a 124-101 victory! Champagnie is quite the underrated forward that deserves some more minutes especially for a team that’s still looking for future pieces too!

Jayson Tatum, Boston Celtics
by Alex Fischbein

Last night in the Atlantic (12/1/21)

The first game of December brought both Boston and Philadelphia fans a lot of frustrating and terrible basketball. Boston is probably a little less depressed because they won, but after that game, it didn’t feel like a win either.

Standings:
Brooklyn Nets 15-6
Boston Celtics 12-10
New York Knicks 11-10
Philadelphia 76ers 11-11
Toronto Raptors 9-13

Let’s talk about last night!

Jayson Tatum

Jayson Tatum always seems to turn it up a couple of notches when playing against the Philadelphia 76ers. Part of it could be playing against Joel Embiid since they worked out together for a couple of offseasons, and the other part could just be the rivalry itself. Either way, it was a great game for Tatum to lead the way especially as one of the only guys who was making shots. Looking through Tatum’s career splits, it looks like December is actually one of his better months especially in terms of efficiency and offensive rating. This December sure did start in the right direction! He finished this game with 26 points and a career-high 16 rebounds!

Shake Milton

Shake Milton was one of the very few highlights for the Sixers as the whole team looked like the slowest moving, worst shooting team in a long time. Even while Milton was the only guy keeping the Sixers in the game during the first half, he didn’t get to play much at all in the second half and only finished with 22 minutes played. At one point, Milton went on an 8-0 run by himself in the first quarter! From top to bottom, coaches to players, this game was quite bad. Doc Rivers’ rotations and out-of-bounds or end-of-game play-calling continue to be the worst in the league.

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…