NBA Series: The Atlantic Division
Still at the Top of the East?
2024-2025 Season Recap
To say that the Atlantic division enjoyed some parity in the previous season is totally inaccurate even if two out of the five teams made it to the playoffs.
Only the New York Knicks and the Boston Celtics broke through the 41-win (50%) threshold. The Toronto Raptors (30-52), the Brooklyn Nets (26-56), and the Philadelphia 76ers (24-58) all sucked, to say the least.
The New York Knicks found themselves playing in the Eastern Conference finals. Some pundits even predicted an NBA Finals appearance, but we all saw what happened–Haliburton and the Pacers got really lucky at the right moments during the series. How many last-minute clutch plays were there again?
The Boston Celtics got 61 wins on account of all those three-point shots. They clinched the first seed in the Eastern Conference, but lost Tatum to a season-ending achilles injury. The equation was pretty simple–no Tatum, no championship. They lost the first-round series to the Knicks.
The Raptors and the Nets had underwhelming rosters which explains the poor performance. The 76ers, however, had a good mix of veteran talent (Embiid, Paul George) and dynamic youth (Maxey, Grimes, McCain), but still only won a measly 24 games–still waiting on that “process?”
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2025-2026 Season
The Knicks added Jordan Clarkson (from Utah) and Guerschon Yabusele (from Phila), and re-signed Mikal Bridges, a key cog in their run last year. If Brunson plays on the same level and Towns can stay consistent, good things could happen again. We can expect another deep postseason run from this squad.
The Celtics lost Jrue Holiday and Kristaps Porzingis, and Jayson Tatum will probably be out for the season. Jaylen Brown will most likely be out for a long time too (meniscus tear). They acquired Anfernee Simons (from Portland) and Chris Boucher (from Toronto) but that is not enough to exceed what they achieved last season.
The Nets’ Cam Thomas and Nic Claxton, even with recent addition Michael Porter Jr, are probably headed to another sub-40 win season (if they are lucky). They lost two of their main scorers–Cam Johnson and D’Angelo Russell–over the summer.
The Raptors re-signed Jakob Poeltl and Garrett Temple, but lost Chris Boucher. They are not a good three-point shooting team. In fact, last season was the second straight season in which they led the league in the percentage of their shots that came in the paint. Brandon Ingram does not look like he is a great fit with Scottie Barnes and the Raptors offense. It doesn’t look like they are going to the postseason, and a first-round exit could be their best-case scenario.
The Philadelphia situation is a bit tricky–their season hinges on the performance of Joel Embiid and Paul George. At this point, these two players are a dice roll, and you never know which version you would get. If they manage to stay healthy and consistent, like how they played together two seasons ago–then yes–they could be in for a good postseason run. A Joel Embiid averaging more than a point per minute played and a Paul George shooting his career best 61.3% are hard to ignore, and if things go right, they could have a good postseason run.
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