As the No. 7 seed, the Sixers are assured of two opportunities to advance through the play-in tournament, but they don’t want to take any chances entering Wednesday’s game with Orlando, writes Gina Mizell of The Philadelphia Inquirer (subscription required). Philadelphia got an unexpected opportunity to host its first game when the Magic lost Sunday night at Boston, and players are determined to take advantage of their good fortune.
“We’ve got a great opportunity to lock in a playoff seed here on our floor,” Paul George said. “It don’t get no better than that in this situation. So we should look at it as ‘win or go home.’ We shouldn’t be looking at a Plan B or an Option B. … It’s the mentality we need to have now. Wednesday is too late. We need to have that mentality now.”
The Sixers and Magic both finished at 45-37, but Philadelphia claimed the tiebreaker by winning two of their three meetings during the season. Both teams battled injuries that may have kept them from finishing in the top six, and coach Nick Nurse said Sunday that he’s proud of how his players held together after collapsing under similar circumstances last year.
“We’ve got a lot of ceiling to go yet,” Nurse said. “… So hopefully, we get to play a bunch of games and keep improving.”
There’s more from Philadelphia:
- The Sixers know they’ll have to get through at least the play-in stage without Joel Embiid, who remains without a timetable to return after undergoing an emergency appendectomy last week, Mizell adds. Adem Bona started at center in Sunday’s win over Milwaukee, but Andre Drummond replaced him in the starting lineup for the beginning of the second half. “That’s the one thing that we can kind of check off,” Drummond said, “that we know that (Embiid) won’t be available for a little bit. So now we have to focus on what we can do and who we do have in this locker room, and focus around that.”
- Nurse talked about the matchup with the Magic following Sunday’s game, per Dereck Bodner of PHLY Sports (Twitter link). “Physical team. Big wings and aggressive guards,” Nurse said. “(Jalen) Suggs and (Desmond) Bane are two competitive, physical guys back there. … They’ve been one of many teams in the league that hasn’t been very healthy this year, so it’s gonna be a tough game.”
- This will be this first time in Tyrese Maxey‘s career that he’s entered the postseason as the team’s primary scoring option, Adam Aaronson of Philly Voice observes in an overview of the roster. Maxey’s challenge is being made more difficult by a finger injury on his right hand that limits his movement and is forcing him to wear a splint.
Celtics showed how to beat the Magic last night – but was Nurse paying attention?
Sixers will be two and done. No chance without Embiid
Are you sure?
The fully healthy Magic needed a win last night, played all their starters, and couldn’t beat the Celtics’ scrubs.
If the Sixers make their threes and rebound, they’ll win.
Rebounding and three point shooting are not exactly strong points for the Sixers.
They’re better than the Magic in both categories.
The Sixers won 2 of 3 vs Orlando, one without PG and Embiid. When they had both, they won in Orlando. It’s far from a lock that Orlando will win
Both get the big boot in the behind from Boston.
Did you watch last night? FUN game!
Yeah. Magic are cooked. They’ve underachieved this season. Some big games from the stay ready group. Boston’s confidence is up. Looking like a legit threat. As if Mazzula isn’t coach of the year.
The only team in the east that could be a problem is the Pistons, and only if the threes aren’t falling.
Maybe, knicks still got high end talent and a good record against Boston.
I’d rather be the hunter. Even though I’m sure the betting odds will be in Boston’s favour. Our roster and coaching staff are more the hunter over hunted mentality.
We’re in a good place at the moment. Having non selfish ego driven stars who are coachable and accountable is awesome. Filters right on down the roster. Celtics can get a game out of anyone on their roster. Think they’ll be even better next season.
I don’t believe in the Knicks without home court advantage, but sure, they could end up beating the Celtics with Tatum still not all the way back.
I’d be surprised if the Celtics weren’t better next season.
Actually the 76ers, if they manage to stay afloat until Joel comes back, have a good shot at going deeper. With PG-13 balling, Maxey carrying (will lower his percentages surely, but he will be pushing the cart the whole time anyway), they have to bet on defense, Drummond and Bona holding the fort (Drummond specially on defense, because he might get good numbers, but the overall defensive side is the real and most important thing on top of that) and good games from the secondary scorers (Tobias and Oubre). Grimes does a lot off the bench. Boston will be tough, though. Maybe the most difficult matchup. But a full sixers team can fight for the East.
Embiid doesn’t scare Boston at all. I hope he does come back. Crumble in the 4th per usual. Playoff P isn’t scary either. Maxey is a worry and that’s it. Boston are much deeper and better than Philly. 4-1.
Uh, Tobias plays for the Pistons 😎
Jewels is all over it. Must of been a typo 🤷