As the Philadelphia 76ers enter the home stretch of the regular season, we’ve witnessed intriguing developments amidst their struggles such as the excellence of Quentin Grimes and the emergence of Justin Edwards. Still, Philadelphia’s main goal in its last 11 games is to put itself in the best position possible in the 2025 NBA Draft Lottery by losing as many games as possible. Despite being injury-riddled and riding a four-game losing streak, the 76ers will face their biggest test yet this week.
The 76ers next four games
Today, Philadelphia will conclude its six-game road trip against the New Orleans Pelicans (19-53) at 8 p.m. EST. Similar to the 76ers, the Pelicans entered this season with playoff hopes only to have their core torn to shreds by untimely injuries. New Orleans has lost five of its last six games with Trey Murphy III (shoulder) being ruled out for the rest of the season on March 18th and Zion Williamson missing his last two games with a lower back contusion.
The Pelicans already endured season-ending injuries to Dejounte Murray (achilles) and Herbert Jones (shoulder) earlier in the year, which means they could be just as short-handed as the 76ers tonight, who were down 10 players in their 132-119 loss to the Atlanta Hawks on Sunday.
On Wednesday, March 26th, Philadelphia will return to Wells Fargo Center to battle the Washington Wizards (15-55) at 7 p.m. EST. Although Washington has won four of its last 10 games and Alex Sarr is tapping into his potential, it still possesses the worst record in the NBA amid a four-game losing skid. Regardless of how many 76ers players are sidelined, the Wizards are still a force to be reckoned with as both teams are focused on tanking the rest of the way.
Philadelphia will then take on the Miami Heat (30-41) on Saturday, March 29th at 7:30 p.m. EST. While the Heat are the best team out of the 76ers’ next four opponents, they lost nine of their last 10 games. Since Miami traded Jimmy Butler to the Golden State Warriors, it has struggled to rebuild its identity, especially offensively. The 76ers should be able to notch another loss as the Heat are one game behind the Chicago Bulls for the 10th seed in the Play-In Tournament race.
On Sunday, March 30th, Philadelphia will face the Toronto Raptors (24-47) at 7:30 p.m. EST. Toronto has been arguably the most aggressive team in the NBA when it comes to tanking. The Raptors have routinely sat its core players in Scottie Barnes, RJ Barrett, and Immanuel Quickley – who are largely healthy – during the later stages of the second half when the result of a game hangs in the balance. Whether it’s extensive injury reports or in-game load management, the Raptors are locked into losing – giving the 76ers a tanking boss fight.
Where the 76ers stand
As of Monday, March 24th, Philadelphia sits in 13th place in the Eastern Conference with a 23-48 record. According to Tankathon, the 76ers possess the tie-breaker over the Brooklyn Nets (23-48) for the fifth-best odds to acquire the first overall pick in the 2025 NBA Draft at 9.8% as well as a 39.9% chance to land a top-four selection.