You couldn’t have drawn up Wednesday night’s results any better as a Philadelphia 76ers fan. The Sixers overcame Joel Embiid’s illness-related absence and a poor defensive effort in the first half to defeat Washington, 153-131. Good and fun to watch, but certainly not unexpected against a Wizards team at the bottom of the Eastern Conference. However, they also received a ton of assistance from across the Association.
The Hawks defeated Orlando, 130-101. While we want Atlanta to lose in a vacuum, given
that the Hawks hold the tiebreaker over the Sixers, it seems more important to gain a game’s ground on the Magic than try to catch the guys in the ATL. Boston also took care of business against Miami, 147-129, importantly increasing the cushion for the Sixers over the Heat after Erik Spoelstra’s club earned the season tiebreaker over Philadelphia earlier this week.
The most improbable and beneficial result came north of the border, though, where the worst-in-the-West Sacramento Kings pulled off the 123-115 upset victory over the Toronto Raptors. With the Sixers owning the tiebreaker over the Raptors due to divisional record, Wednesday’s series of events means that Philadelphia is now sitting in sixth place in the Eastern Conference, which would be clear of the Play-In Tournament and in the actual, no-doubt-about-it playoffs.
Charlotte is highlighted above because they are the only Sixers-postseason-relevant team taking the court tonight, hosting the Phoenix Suns. Come on, Collin Gillespie, you’re a Philly guy, help us out.
The Sixers still have a difficult stretch ahead of them, with games against Minnesota, Detroit, San Antonio and Houston upcoming. Still, all the dominoes fell perfectly on Wednesday night, setting the stage for an exciting end to the regular season.
