The No. 7 seed Philadelphia 76ers are set to host the No. 8 seed Orlando Magic in the Play-In Tournament on Wednesday night to decide who will advance to the playoffs and take on the Boston Celtics in the first round.
A loss here wouldn't technically end the 76ers' season, as they would then have one more opportunity to secure a playoff appearance against the winner of Tuesday night's Charlotte Hornets vs. Miami Heat game. But let's just call it like it is: if they can't beat the Magic (who just let Luka Garza, Baylor Scheierman, and Ron Harper Jr. set career highs in points against them), then there's no chance they can make any noise in the playoffs.
The 76ers have what it takes to beat the Magic, even if they don't have Joel Embiid, who remains out after undergoing surgery for appendicitis. Orlando has been inconsistent all year, and its defense has been largely disappointing. But if it can steal Wednesday's game on the road, then that will not bode well at all for Philadelphia.
The 76ers should be able to defeat the Magic in the Play-In
The Magic were easily one of the most disappointing teams in the regular season. They took the Cleveland Cavaliers to seven games in 2024 and gave the reigning champion Boston Celtics some challenges in the first round last year (even if they lost in five games), and their addition of Desmond Bane was expected to greatly solve their three-point shooting woes.
But for the most part, it didn't work out that way.
To be fair, Franz Wagner only played 34 games, but even so, the Magic still struggled much more than anybody expected. They finished the season 45-37 and fell to the Play-In (even though many expected a big leap from them), and they ranked 19th in offensive rating and just 11th in defensive rating, according to Basketball-Reference.com. Additionally, their 34.3 3FG% was tied for third-worst in the league with the Portland Trail Blazers.
The 76ers aren't at full strength, but Tyrese Maxey, VJ Edgecombe, and Paul George alone should be enough to punch their ticket to the playoffs. Whether they will be able to make any serious noise from that point on is its own question, but one thing is for certain: if they can't even beat an underwhelming Magic team on their own home court, they're not going to have much of a chance to do anything else the rest of the way.
Add us as a preferred source on Google