The Atlantic Files #151: Ben Simmons allergic to crunch time

The Philadelphia 76ers' common word of the season so far should be 'underperforming.' Ben Simmons, while still not shooting much in general, is shooting even less when it comes to crunch time and the Sixers have yet to find their actual leader. This week's episode breaks that down as well as more around the Atlantic. While looking at the splits for the fourth quarter and the second half, Simmons has a big telltale sign. He isn't performing too well in the second half. What does the mean for the Sixers moving forward as the season progresses? Kyrie Irving is putting himself in the same sentence as Julius Erving these days. Almost positive that he's going to need to play a lot more minutes for the Brooklyn Nets if he really wants to make that comparison. On top of that, the Nets are on the brink of the playoffs in general and may even have to start hanging out at home earlier than expected. RJ Barrett, while hurt at the moment, is a bright spot for the New York Knicks. He's found himself near the top of the current crop of rookies even though his shooting hasn't been the best. He's scoring at a decent clip and is playing the most amongst all of the rookies. Finally, we have to appreciate the body of work Kyle Lowry is putting together this season for the Toronto Raptors. At the age of 33, he's leading the league in minutes per game and has been a huge reason that the Raptors are at the top of the division. Could he be trade bait as well? Topic rundown: 2:15 - Brooklyn Nets and Kyrie Irving's higher thinking 16:00 - Philadelphia 76ers and Ben Simmons second half splits 25:45 - New York Knicks and RJ Barrett's chances to win Rookie of the Year 29:20 - Kyle Lowry's impressive season for the Toronto Raptors