The Philadelphia 76ers are trying to move up in the Eastern Conference standings as they welcome Joel Embiid back to the floor. The Sixers are 1 1/2 games behind the Miami Heat for sixth place in the Eastern Conference. That spot would guarantee them a playoff spot and avoid the play-in tournament. That’s why Thursday’s matchup in South Florida is a critical for everybody involved.
Until the conclusion of the regular season on April 14, we are going to update the Eastern Conference standings on a regular basis and where the Sixers stand while exploring who they could face in the Eastern Conference playoffs.
While the Sixers and the Heat were idle, the Indiana Pacers fell to the Brooklyn Nets on the road 115-111. That allowed Miami to jump the Pacers in the standings and Indiana dropped to seventh. The Heat and the Pacers will play on Sunday in Indiana.
The Orlando Magic picked up a road win over the New Orleans Pelicans, so the fourth-place Magic are now four games ahead of the Sixers. Philadelphia and Orlando will match up on April 12 at the Wells Fargo Center.
The big matchup is the Sixers taking on the Heat in Miami. The Heat own the tiebreaker because they’ve taken two of the teams’ first three matchups. However, the Sixers have not had Joel Embiid for any of those matchups. Miami has not had the services of Jimmy Butler in those matchups either. At the moment, it appears both will play on Thursday.
The fifth-place New York Knicks play host to the Sacramento Kings. New York holds a 3 1/2-game lead on the Sixers for its spot. The Knicks won the season series 3-1.
Important matchups:
- Sixers at Heat 7:30 p.m. EDT
- Knicks vs. Kings 7:30 p.m. EDT
At the moment, the Sixers are the No. 8 seed and would travel to Gainbridge Fieldhouse to take on the Pacers in the play-in tournament. The winner would be the No. 7 seed and face the Milwaukee Bucks in the first round. The loser would face the winner of the 9 vs. 10 matchup to determine the No. 8 seed, which will face the Boston Celtics in first round.
- X-Boston Celtics 60-16 — GB
- Milwaukee Bucks 37-29 13 GB
- Cleveland Cavaliers 46-31 14.5 GB
- Orlando Magic 45-31 15 GB
- New York Knicks 44-31 15.5 GB
- Miami Heat 42-33 17.5 GB
- Indiana Pacers 43-34 17.5 GB
- Philadelphia 76ers 41-35 19 GB
- pi–Chicago Bulls 36-40 24 GB
- pi–Atlanta Hawks 36-40 24 GB
*X–denotes clinched a playoff…
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