Sixers ensured of home court in first round with 133-120 victory over Pacers; need help to get third seed

Now, the 76ers need a regular-season-ending victory and some help from the Memphis Grizzlies on Sunday.

A victory over the Detroit Pistons paired with the Grizzlies beating the Boston Celtics will give the Sixers the Eastern Conference’s third seed in the upcoming playoff.

The Sixers created that scenario after beating the Indiana Pacers, 133-120, in Saturday’s afternoon game at the Wells Fargo Center. Joel Embiid finished with 41 points and 20 rebounds as the Sixers (50-31) reached at least 50 wins for the third time in five seasons. They finished 49-23 during last season’s 72-game schedule, and 43-30 during the 73-game campaign two seasons ago because of the pandemic.

On this afternoon, all five Sixers starters scored in double figures.

James Harden had 22 points and game-high 14 assists. Tobias Harris and Tyrese Maxey added 18 points apiece. Danny Green had 15 points, a game-high three steals, and one block while being a game-best plus-17. As a team, the Sixers shot 55.6% and had a 42-31 rebounding advantage over the Pacers (25-56)

The victory ensured the Sixers of at least the fourth seed and home-court advantage in the opening round.

But the third seed would provide an easier path to what they hope is a championship run.

» READ MORE: Sixers’ Joel Embiid is on the verge of history

The seed doesn’t matter to Embiid, who could sit out Sunday’s finale.

“I just want to win [Sunday],” he said. “Whether I play or not, I hope we win. I don’t care who we play. If we get to the third seed, probably Chicago. If we stay where we are, Toronto. I feel pretty confident about both matchups. And I feel confident about any matchups. I feel like we have enough.

“But like I’ve been saying, everybody has to be on the same page. For us to win, we all have to be on at the same time, offensively and defensively. So I’m happy, I honestly don’t care if we finish third or fourth. I’m pretty confident about what we can accomplish in these playoffs.”

Embiid’s right. As the third seed, the Sixers would face the sixth-seeded Bulls (45-36) in the first round. The Sixers swept this season’s four meetings with Chicago. As the fourth seed, they would meet the fifth-seeded Raptors (48-33).

That would be problematic.

The Sixers will most likely be without Matisse Thybulle, their best perimeter defender, on the road should they play Toronto. That’s because as of Jan. 15, unvaccinated players are not allowed into the country. That’s why the fully unvaccinated Thybulle was ineligible to play in Thursday’s 119-114 loss at Scotiabank Arena.

But the Sixers had a tough time beating the Raptors ( 47-33) even with Thybulle, losing 3-1 in the season series.

So Sunday’s games are huge for the Sixers.

The Sixers will entertain the Pistons (23-58), while the Grizzlies host the Celtics in 7 p.m. matchups. But there’s questions. Will Memphis rest key players since it is locked into the Western Conference’s second seed? And will the Sixers rest Embiid, James Harden, and the other starters against Detroit?

“Not sure, honestly,” coach Doc Rivers said. “We’ve talked about it way too many times and we still haven’t decided.”

Embiid recorded another MVP-worthy performance.

The five-time All-Star’s 41 points came on 14-for-17 shooting from the field and by making 11 of 15 foul shots. Sixteen of his points came in the third quarter.

Embiid is averaging a league-best 30.573 points and is assured of averaging more than 30 points even if he plays and fails to score a point against the Pistons on Sunday. As a result, he joins Hall of Famers Allen Iverson (four times) and Wilt Chamberlain (once) to average at least 30 points in a season as a Sixer.

He can also become the first center to average at least 30 points since Moses Malone averaged 31.1 as a Houston Rockets during the 1981-82 season.

He exited the game with 58.9 seconds left to chants of “MVP!... MVP! … MVP!”

Green made his first start since Feb. 15 on Thursday because of Thybulle’s absence.

Thybulle rejoined the team Saturday, but Green remained in the starting lineup. The 13th-year veteran finished with 15 points, three steals, and a block after scoring a season-high 18 against the Raptors.

“Just continuity, spacing,” Rivers said about keeping Green in the starting lineup. “Teams have been game planning, just thought that was the right thing to do today.”

In addition to continuity, the coach acknowledged it was to prepare for a possible first-round matchup with the Raptors.

» READ MORE: This season’s expectations for James Harden and the Sixers were always too grand | Marcus Hayes

Paul Reed received the Sixers’ backup-center minutes for the second straight game.

The second-year player got mixed reviews during Saturday’s matinee.

Reed finished with eight points, five rebounds, a season-high four steals, and one assist in 11 minutes. However, he was a personal foul waiting to happen, committing five during his short time on the court. Reed also missed both of his free throws.

“I did all right,” Reed said of his play. “I think I could have done better. I could have definitely made those free throws. But I did all right. I could have done better.”

Reed played 6 minutes, 26 seconds in the first half. All eight of his points came in the first half on 4-for-4 shooting to go with three rebounds and three steals. But he also had four of his fouls before being subbed out with 8:24 left in the half.

He came back into the game at the start of the fourth quarter only to pick up his fifth foul with 8:22 left. That led to Embiid replacing him.

Georges Niang sat out Saturday’s game with left knee patella tendinopathy.

It marked the fifth game Niang missed this season, but only the first one due to injury. The sixth-year veteran missed the other four games after testing positive for COVID-19.

Rivers said the tendinopathy isn’t a serious injury.

“Just precaution,” Rivers said. “If this [was] a playoff game, Georges would be playing tonight.”

Niang is having a career season with the Sixers, averaging career bests of 9.2 points, 2.7 rebounds, 1.3 assists, and 22.8 minutes per game.

He’s also second on the team in three-point percentage at .403.