11/16 NBA Recap: Atlantic Redux

There were plenty of games to analyze last night, but I'll only be looking at three in today's recap. Without further ado:

- If the playoffs were to start right now, the Boston Celtics would be the only representatives of the Atlantic Division, with the Nets just missing out at 4-6. The Celtics are 4+ game up on the competition, if you can call it competition. The worst three records in the East belong to teams from the Atlantic Division, and they all played last night (and predictably lost).

- The New York Knicks lost their sixth game in a row, this time to the Denver Nuggets. The Knicks are now 3-8, and have the third worst record in the Eastern Conference. Now in my pre-season predictions, I had the Knicks missing the playoffs and coming in third in the Atlantic. They are on par with both, mainly due to poor defensive play. This team doesn't play defense, as they could have easily won last night. They out-rebounded the Nuggets by 7, and had less turnovers. But they don't play well on defense. And as good as Ama're Stoudemire is, he isn't good enough to be a #1 guy on a playoff team. Why was he so good in Phoenix? He had Steve Nash to feed him the ball. He is a prototypical side-kick, two-man, whatever you won'tto call it. Stoudemire will NOT lead this team to the playoffs if he is the team's best player. He needs someone to take the responsibilities in crunch time and to feed him the ball on the block.

- The East's second worst team, the Philadelphia 76ers, lost as well. In my pre-season predictions, I had the Sixers going to the playoffs as a low seed and finishing second in the Atlantic. Umm, I'll take that back. No chance. Evan Turner isn't consistent yet, as he is a streaky everything in his rookie campaign. Elton Brand is doing better than some expected, but not well enough to lead a team. Spencer Hawes doesn't score enough, and Iguodala is out for now although I don't think they'll improve much with the flashy dunker. Jrue Holiday turns the ball over too much and is still too young. This team just doesn't have the right pieces, and will be rebuilding for more years to come. You can't fit a cylinder in a square hole, and that's what it seems Philly is doing, and it's predictably no fitting.

-The worst team in the East is the Toronto Raptors. I called them being last in the Atlantic, and they are. Why? Bargnani is their best player, and he is softer than Cottonelle. The guy cannot rebound, even though he is seven-feet tall. And the rest of the squad isn't much to write home about either. The Raptors failed to beat the Washington Wizards, who walloped the Raptors despite not having John Wall available. Just tell the Celtics they can breeze by to the playoffs already, because there is no chance they lose this terrible division.

MVP of the Night: Wes Matthews of the Portland Trailblazers, who scored 30 points filling in for Brandon Roy.


And how about some comments today? I wake up in the morning, put my heart and soul into these recaps, and nothing. First person to comment gets a special prize, courtesy of me. What is it? Comment and find out!