The NBA’s Atlantic Division is all but wrapped up despite the fact that there’s a lot of basketball left to be played. The Brooklyn Nets, favorites for the championship, currently lead and don’t appear likely to surrender their lead.
The Nets had been doing quite well without Kyrie Irving in the mix and his return, albeit as a part-time player, should hand them an extra boost. Irving has been allowed to be part of the team for away games as he remains unvaccinated. His standoff with the team saw him banished, initially, with Brooklyn stating they were unwilling to have him around as a part-time player but the organization has since reneged. As it happened, the point guard entered the NBA’s health and safety protocols right after returning to the team.
On Tuesday, however, the Nets announced Irving, Kevin Durant, and LaMarcus Aldridge had cleared protocols. Aldridge has been quarantined for two weeks; Irving and Durant entered 10 days ago.
The Nets have suffered a significant outbreak, with more than 10 players entering the league’s protocols at the same time. Three of their games had to be postponed before they returned for a Christmas Day win vs. the Los Angeles Lakers. They beat the LA Clippers on Monday as well.
Their next game comes against the Philadelphia 76ers on Thursday, who are second in the division and the last team Durant faced before going into protocols. The MVP candidate scored 34 points along with 11 rebounds and eight assists to fire Brooklyn to a 114-105 win.
Durant should be on the court for Thursday’s contest but Irving won’t as he cannot play at the Barclays Center or Madison Square Garden due to his refusal to receive a vaccine. Irving can only play in games outside of New York, which means the first time he will be able to play is on January 5 when the Nets take on the Indiana Pacers on the road. The guard will need “a week or two” to get in playing shape, according to Nets head coach Steve Nash.
The Sixers will play divisional rivals, the Toronto Raptors before facing the Nets on Thursday. They have failed to maintain consistency over their last few games but will hope for a victory against the Canadian outfit that ruined their title hopes in 2019. The Raptors rank fourth in the Atlantic Division at the moment, below the third-placed Boston Celtics.
The Celtics aren’t going through the best of times this season and are coming off a loss to the Minnesota Timberwolves that head coach Ime Udoka described as the worst of the year.
“One of the poorest losses of the year,” Udoka told reporters after the reverse. “A team that is depleted as we are just out-hustled us late in the game. And very undisciplined effort overall.”
The New York Knicks are last in the division but do have a chance to get back into the playoffs as they are nearly back to full strength and have a favorable schedule coming up. They will hope to take advantage of the many shorthanded teams around them in a bid to climb the standings in the Eastern Conference.
That schedule begins with a four-game road trip that tips off in Minnesota on Tuesday night. The T-Wolves were without its top three players in Karl-Anthony Towns, Anthony Edwards, and D’Angelo Russell for the recent win over the Celtics.
Soon, NBA bets will be available for New Yorkers and, with the Knicks currently 10/3 to make the playoffs this season, things will be interesting.
The road trip will extend a stretch of 14 consecutive games against opponents who were no higher than .500 as of Sunday. The Knicks haven’t won consecutive contests since winning three straight to go 5-1 on October 30, however.
They will play a ravaged Detroit Pistons side that has lost 17 of their last 18 games following Tuesday’s game in Minnesota. The Pistons have the likes of Cade Cunningham, Isaiah Stewart, Killian Hayes, and Cory Joseph in league protocols.
New York will finish the road trip with visits to Oklahoma City to play the Thunder and Toronto for a matchup vs. the Raptors. The Thunder have managed to keep its top players out of protocols this season and Shai-Gilgeous Alexander has fired them to four victories in their last five ahead of Tuesday’s game against the Sacramento Kings.
The Knicks should be getting Immanuel Quickley back for The game vs. Minnesota as he has been cleared from protocols despite not playing in their win over the Atlanta Hawks on Saturday. RJ Barrett and Quentin Grimes have also cleared.
The emergence of Kemba Walker as a potent source of offense should also be a major factor. The guard had been frozen out of the teams for several games before Tom Thibodeau decided to bring him back from the cold due to the team being undermanned.
Walker was named the Eastern Conference Player of the Week on Monday.
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