{"id":31744,"date":"2020-06-29T10:00:54","date_gmt":"2020-06-29T14:00:54","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lastwordonprobasketball.com\/?p=31744"},"modified":"2020-06-28T15:49:59","modified_gmt":"2020-06-28T19:49:59","slug":"how-the-nba-suspension-has-affected-the-atlantic-division","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/2020\/06\/29\/how-the-nba-suspension-has-affected-the-atlantic-division\/","title":{"rendered":"How the NBA Suspension Has Affected the Atlantic Division"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Every team that has been invited to participate in the NBA&#8217;s resumption of play has been impacted by the season&#8217;s suspension. It&#8217;s time to dive into how each of them has been affected. Today, we take a closer look at the teams in the Atlantic Division.<\/p>\n<h2><strong>How the Atlantic Division has been Affected by the NBA Suspension<\/strong><\/h2>\n<h3><strong>Toronto Raptors<\/strong><\/h3>\n<p>Veterans such as <a href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/l\/lowryky01.html\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"><strong>Kyle Lowry<\/strong><\/a> and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/g\/gasolma01.html\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"><strong>Marc Gasol<\/strong><\/a> have benefitted by getting some rest, with the latter looking in much <a href=\"https:\/\/ftw.usatoday.com\/2020\/06\/marc-gasol-skinny-slimmed-down-nba-stoppage-raptors\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">better shape<\/a> heading into Orlando. The time off might\u2019ve also rejuvenated <a href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/s\/siakapa01.html\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"><strong>Pascal Siakam<\/strong><\/a>, who cooled off during the course of the year after exploding out of the gate at the beginning of the season. The rest of the league definitely can\u2019t take the <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonprobasketball.com\/nba-teams\/toronto-raptors\/\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Toronto Raptors<\/a> lightly as the team tries to repeat as world champions.<\/p>\n<h3><strong>Boston Celtics<\/strong><\/h3>\n<p>The <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonprobasketball.com\/nba-teams\/boston-celtics\/\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Boston Celtics<\/a>\u00a0have had their fair share of injuries this season as well. <a href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/w\/walkeke02.html\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"><strong>Kemba Walker<\/strong><\/a> and <strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/b\/brownja02.html\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Jaylen Brown<\/a>\u00a0<\/strong>were\u00a0both hurt prior to the break but appear to be back to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.celticsblog.com\/2020\/6\/17\/21294912\/kemba-walker-jaylen-brown-appear-healthy-after-ample-time-off-robert-williams-boston-celtics-nba\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">full strength<\/a>. Unfortunately for the Celtics, the season\u2019s suspension came during <a href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/t\/tatumja01.html\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"><strong>Jayson Tatum\u2019s<\/strong><\/a> breakout and he could be <a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=ibQmQ49za7w\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">rusty<\/a> after play resumes. Boston will definitely need their young star to continue playing at an elite level to make a deep playoff run.<\/p>\n<h3><strong>Philadelphia 76ers<\/strong><\/h3>\n<p>The <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonprobasketball.com\/nba-teams\/philadelphia-76ers\/\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Philadelphia 76ers<\/a> have benefitted massively from the time off due to injuries to their two young stars. <a href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/s\/simmobe01.html\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"><strong>Ben Simmons<\/strong><\/a> was potentially out long term because of a scary nerve impingement in his back. The All-Star has had plenty of time to recover but coach Brett Brown still <a href=\"https:\/\/sixerswire.usatoday.com\/2020\/06\/17\/brett-brown-is-not-sure-if-ben-simmons-will-be-100-for-season-restart\/\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">isn\u2019t sure<\/a> if he will be fully healthy when the season resumes. Thankfully, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/e\/embiijo01.html\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"><strong>Joel Embiid<\/strong><\/a> seems to have <a href=\"https:\/\/hoopshype.com\/storyline\/joel-embiid-injury\/\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">fully healed<\/a> from his shoulder injury that he suffered in late February. The Sixers will definitely hope for both players to be at 100% in order to help salvage a tumultuous season.<\/p>\n<h3><strong>Brooklyn Nets<\/strong><\/h3>\n<p>The <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonprobasketball.com\/nba-teams\/brooklyn-nets\/\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Brooklyn Nets<\/a> are a fascinating team due to off-court issues that have happened over the past few months. <a href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/d\/dinwisp01.html\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"><strong>Spencer Dinwiddie <\/strong><\/a>first had a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.si.com\/nba\/2020\/05\/16\/spencer-dinwiddie-bitcoin-fundraiser-decide-next-team-fan-vote\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">bizarre announcement<\/a> saying that he\u2019ll let fans choose which team he plays for next. Then, <strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/i\/irvinky01.html\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Kyrie Irving<\/a><\/strong> <a href=\"https:\/\/www.espn.com\/nba\/story\/_\/id\/29304500\/sources-kyrie-irving-play-key-role-friday-call-players\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">stated <\/a>that he\u2019s against the league&#8217;s resumption because he believes it could interfere with the ongoing social reform movement. Both of these events could cause potential chemistry issues within the team.<\/p>\n<p>Main Photo:<br \/>\n<a id=\"sDIvOwkuR_J_y1qQOj2LGQ\" class=\"gie-single\" style=\"color: #a7a7a7; text-decoration: none; font-weight: normal !important; border: none; display: inline-block;\" href=\"http:\/\/www.gettyimages.com\/detail\/1209761661\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Embed from Getty Images<\/a><script>window.gie=window.gie||function(c){(gie.q=gie.q||[]).push(c)};gie(function(){gie.widgets.load({id:'sDIvOwkuR_J_y1qQOj2LGQ',sig:'unBfvmNCsNIp4R8-JqWypY2Owd0ChDhiLCK3scOGaiA=',w:'594px',h:'396px',items:'1209761661',caption: true ,tld:'com',is360: false })});<\/script><script src='\/\/embed-cdn.gettyimages.com\/widgets.js' charset='utf-8' async><\/script><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Every team that has been invited to participate in the NBA&#8217;s resumption of play has been impacted by the season&#8217;s suspension. It&#8217;s time to dive into how each of them has been affected. Today, we take a closer look at the teams in the Atlantic Division. How the Atlantic Division has been Affected by the [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3453,"featured_media":31790,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"","_lmt_disable":"","sfio_featured_image":false,"sfio_embed_code":"","_ef_editorial_meta_date_first-draft-date":"","_ef_editorial_meta_paragraph_assignment":"","_ef_editorial_meta_checkbox_needs-photo":"","_ef_editorial_meta_number_word-count":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[1608,5,6,62,13,14],"tags":[302,231,798,267,319,406,1754,225,318],"class_list":["post-31744","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-basketball","category-celtics","category-nets","category-nba","category-76ers","category-raptors","tag-boston-celtics","tag-brooklyn-nets","tag-jayson-tatum","tag-joel-embiid","tag-kyle-lowry","tag-kyrie-irving","tag-pascal-siakam","tag-philadelphia-76ers","tag-toronto-raptors"],"modified_by":"Chase Gage","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/31744","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3453"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=31744"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/31744\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/31790"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=31744"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=31744"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=31744"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}