The Philadelphia 76ers suffered a disappointing defeat on Monday night to a San Antonio Spurs club that lost star Victor Wembanyama to a rib injury midway through the game. The loss moved Philadelphia out of a tie with Toronto and down into the seventh seed, which would mean an entry in the Play-In Tournament rather than an automatic postseason berth.
Unfortunately, that result wasn’t the only one Monday not to go the Sixers’ way as we enter the home stretch of the 2025-26 NBA regular season. Behind
31 points from Paolo Banchero, Orlando defeated the top-seeded Pistons, 123-107. The Magic now share an identical 43-36 record with the Sixers, with Charlotte joining them in a three-way tie. A silver lining for Sixers fans is that the Sixers currently hold the tiebreaker within that grouping; the difference between seventh and ninth is vast given the Play-In Tournament structure.
One game that did go Philadelphia’s way on Monday was Atlanta narrowly losing to the Knicks at home, 108-105. With the Sixers losing, though, they are still two games back of the Hawks with three to play. With Atlanta holding the tiebreaker, the Hawks are very likely out of reach.
Highlighted above are the games of note tonight. Toronto hosts Miami, and Sixers fans should be rooting for the Heat there, even though that would draw Miami slightly closer to Philadelphia. The reward for moving back up into sixth place is too great to entertain other alternatives. Charlotte is on the road in Boston in a nationally televised affair, so we find ourselves in the extremely dystopian position of rooting for the Celtics.
The Sixers aren’t back on the court until Thursday in Houston. Let’s hope tonight’s contests go their way.
