NBA playoff picture: Sixers can still avoid the play-in tournament, but need help

The Sixers face the Orlando Magic tonight at home in South Philly needing two wins in their final two games and some help to skip the NBA’s Play-In Tournament and head straight for the playoffs.

Entering tonight, the Sixers are a game behind both the fifth-place Magic and the sixth-place Indiana Pacers in the Eastern Conference. Philly will need to finish at least in sixth place to avoid being in the play-in tournament for the first time. Plus, with Joel Embiid coming back from a knee injury that kept him off the court for two months, the Sixers could really use the week off.

The easiest scenario for the Sixers to move straight to the NBA playoffs as either the No. 5 or No. 6 seed is to win their final two games — against the Magic tonight and the Brooklyn Nets on Sunday — and root for either the Magic to lose Sunday against the Milwaukee Bucks or hope the Pacers either win out or lose their final two games.

Why? The Sixers want to avoid a three-way tie with the Pacers and Magic, because Philly would come out of that scenario with the No. 7 seed, thanks to the NBA tiebreaker rules when three or more teams end the season with the same record. Otherwise, the Sixers would have the head-to-head tiebreaker against the Magic.

To land the No. 5 seed, the Sixers and Pacers would both need to win out, the Cleveland Cavaliers would have to lose their final two games, and the Magic would need to lose their final game.

If the Sixers lose one of their remaining two games, they’ll almost assuredly end the season as either the No. 7 or No. 8 seed, and would need to win a play-in game next week to advance to the playoffs, which are scheduled to begin on April 20.

If the season ended today, the Sixers would be the No. 7 seed, and would face the No. 8 seed Miami Heat in a play-in game in Philly. The winner of that game would move on to the NBA playoffs to face the No. 2 seed, which will likely end up being the Milwaukee Bucks. The loser would need to win a second play-in game in order to advance to the playoffs. They would face the winner of the game between the No. 9 Chicago Bulls and No. 10 Atlanta Hawks.

A play-in game in Philly would have to be scheduled for Wednesday, because the Flyers face the Washington Capitals Tuesday at the Wells Fargo Center in their regular-season home finale.

» READ MORE: Sixers refuse to harp on ‘what-ifs’ or sweat playoff race: ‘Game 2 is just as important as Game 82′

It’s possible the Sixers will end the season tied with either the Pacers or the Magic. If that happens, here are the NBA’s tiebreaker rules.

The Boston Celtics have had the No. 1 seed locked down for weeks, but the No. 2 seed remains up for grabs.

The Milwaukee Bucks enter Friday night one win away from locking the No. 2 seed up, because they hold the tiebreaker against the New York Knicks. For the Knicks to overtake the Bucks in the standings, New York would have to go 2-0 and have the Bucks go 0-2 to close out the season.

The outcome could end up mattering a lot to the Sixers, who would face the No. 3 seed in the playoffs if they manage to end the season as the No. 6 seed. As of today, that would be the Knicks.

Both the Chicago Bulls and Atlanta Hawks have clinched spots in the play-in tournament, where two wins would land one team in the playoffs.

Clinched the playoffs: Boston Celtics, Milwaukee Bucks, New York Knicks

Clinched play-in: Chicago Bulls, Atlanta Hawks

Eliminated from playoffs: Brooklyn Nets, Toronto Raptors, Charlotte Hornets, Washington Wizards, Detroit Pistons

Here’s how the playoff bracket currently looks in the Eastern Conference, as of Friday morning:

And here’s how the bracket for the play-in tournament currently looks:

The No. 1 seed is still up for grabs in the Western Conference.

Nikola Jokić and the Denver Nuggets have a one-game lead over both the Minnesota Timberwolves and Oklahoma City Thunder entering Friday night. If the Nuggets win their final two games, the No. 1 seed is theirs.

The New Orleans Pelicans and Phoenix Suns are battling for the sixth and final playoff spot. If the Pelicans defeat the Warriors tonight, it would force the Suns into the play-in tournament, potentially pitting Kevin Durant against fellow NBA superstars LeBron James or Steph Curry.

Former Sixer James Harden has already clinched a playoff spot with his new team, the Los Angeles Clippers. They’ll face Luka Doncic and the Dallas Mavericks in the first round of the playoffs for the third time since 2020.

Clinched the playoffs: Minnesota Timberwolves, Denver Nuggets, Oklahoma Thunder, Los Angeles Clippers, Dallas Mavericks

Clinched play-in: Sacramento Kings, Golden State Warriors, Los Angeles Lakers

Eliminated from playoffs: Houston Rockets, Orlando Jazz, Memphis Grizzlies, Portland Trail Blazers, San Antonio Spurs

Here’s how the playoff bracket currently looks in the Western Conference, as of Friday morning:

And here’s how the bracket for the play-in tournament currently looks:

The NBA’s play-in tournament begins on Tuesday and will run through Friday, April 19.

Four teams in each conference will enter the tournament, with two spots in each conference’s playoff bracket up for grabs.

The No. 7 seed hosts the No. 8 seed, with the winner advancing to the playoffs as the No. 7 seed.

The loser hosts the winner of the second play-in game, between the No. 9 seed and No. 10 seed. The winner of that game advances to the playoffs as the No. 8 seed.

This is the fifth season the NBA has hosted a play-in tournament, which was initially created for the league’s bubble due to the COVID pandemic. The current play-in rules have been in effect since the 2020-21 season.

The NBA playoffs begin with the first round, with the first game scheduled for April 20.

Sixteen teams total will ultimately make the playoffs, eight in each conference. Each playoff round, including the NBA finals, are a best-of-seven series with the higher seed gaining home court advantage.