With the regular season slated to end on Sunday, the Philadelphia 76ers remain engaged in a tight race to the finish line. Currently, with a 44-27 win-loss card, they are seated in eighth place in the standings, which places them in the play-in tournament. Unfortunately, it appears that clinch an outright playoff berth would be a highly difficult task for them.
The two teams ahead of them at No. 5 and No. 6, Orlando and Toronto (both having one less loss than Philly), face very favorable matchups in their final games. The Magic will be facing a Celtics team that has nothing to play for and is likely to rest most if not all of their key players to get some more rest before the playoffs. Meanwhile, the Raptors are set to take on the Nets that is trying to lose and is simply not good.
The 76ers will also face a tanking team to end the regular season in the Pacers, but Philly needs both the Magic and the Raptors to lose to get to No. 6 and skip the play-in tournament altogether. Unfortunately, the Celtics and the Nets are likely to drop those games, although Brooklyn is the more surefire squad to drop a game.
The 76ers get screwed in their playoff chase to end the regular season
Obviously, an outright playoff berth is the target for the 76ers, but realistically speaking, they are going to have to settle for a spot in the play-in. The only consolation is that they will have two cracks to sneak into the playoffs.
Philly is most likely going to face Orlando in the 7 vs 8 matchup with the 76ers playing on the road. If they win, they get a ticket to play the Celtics in the first round. If they lose, they will get a chance to face the first-seeded Pistons by winning against the winner between the Hornets and Heat in the 9 vs 10 sudden death.
In either case, finishing seventh is not a good outcome for the 76ers. Already expected to be without Joel Embiid to start the playoffs, they are going to be heavy, heavy underdogs against both Detroit and Boston, both of which have been on fire as of late.
To be fair, Boston still has what it takes to take out Orlando given how Joe Mazzulla has fared with lesser-known players. The same, however, cannot be said for Brooklyn, which has been emblematic of incompetence this season much to the chagrin of the 76ers this time around.