Sixers have favorable schedule — and Joel Embiid’s help — in crucial NBA season stretch run

The Sixers play against the Grizzlies and Spurs in their final road trip of the season, then conclude the season with a three-game homestand against the Pistons, Magic, and Nets.

Sixers center Joel Embiid during his first game back after a two-month absence, against the Thunder on Tuesday night.Read moreHeather Khalifa / Staff Photographer

by Keith Pompey

Published April 4, 2024, 5:00 a.m. ET

When Joel Embiid returned Tuesday night against the Oklahoma City Thunder, the 76ers got their mojo back.

“You see his dominance, his presence, what he brings to our group, to our team, to the crowd and everything,” Tobias Harris said after the 109-105 victory at the Wells Fargo Center. “So it’s long overdue. But I’m glad he’s healthy and back out there with us.

“So everybody in the whole locker room is excited. And to go out there and get a win as well, it’s a great momentum booster for us.”

Embiid had been sidelined since Jan. 30, but now the Sixers (41-35) have the league’s most dominant player back for this season’s stretch run. And he returned just in time for Thursday night’s much-anticipated matchup with the Miami Heat at Kaseya Center.

However, Embiid, Harris, and Tyrese Maxey are all listed as questionable for the biggest game of the season thus far. Their injuries are listed as left knee injury recovery, left knee hyperextension, and left hip tightness, respectively. The Sixers may need all three players because of the postseason implications for both teams. The Heat (42-33) are in sixth place in the Eastern Conference standings, 1½ games ahead of the eighth-place Sixers with six games remaining.

A victory would mark Miami’s third win in this season’s four-game series. The Heat would also hold the head-to-head tiebreaker, assuming the teams finish with identical records.

And if the Heat fall out of the top six, the head-to-head tiebreaker would give them home-court advantage in a potential NBA Play-In Tournament game against the Sixers.

The tourney is designed to determine the final two spots in the NBA playoffs among teams that finish between seventh and 10th place in their respective conferences from April 16-19.

The seventh- and eighth-place finishers will get two chances to win a play-in game. The ninth- and 10th-place teams will meet, with the winner needing an additional victory to secure a playoff berth.

So, on April 16, each conference’s seventh-place team will host the eighth-place squad for the right to earn the seventh seed in the playoffs. The losing squad will host the winner of the game between the teams in ninth and 10th place on April 19 for the eighth seed.

The Sixers want to avoid the eighth seed, where they would have a first-round matchup against the Boston Celtics. The Celtics have a league-best 60-16 record after Wednesday’s 135-100 victory against the Western Conference’s third-place Thunder (52-24). Boston, is heavily favored to win the NBA title.

The Sixers will have an easier path in the postseason by facing the Milwaukee Bucks, currently in second place, in the first round. The Bucks (47-29) are coming off back-to-back losses to the struggling Washington Wizards and Memphis Grizzlies. That’s why it’s important to obtain the seventh seed. But the first step would be earning that win against the Heat on Thursday.

The best-case scenario for the Sixers would be clinching the sixth seed to avoid the play-in tournament altogether. Right now, they appear in a three-way battle with the Heat and seventh-place Indiana Pacers for that spot. The Pacers (43-34) hold the head-to-head tiebreaker with the Sixers.

iSo while getting the sixth seed is a long shot, the Sixers do have the league’s easiest remaining schedule.

After facing the Heat, they’ll play against the Grizzlies on Saturday and the San Antonio Spurs Sunday in their final road trip of the season. Then the Sixers conclude the season with a three-game homestand against the Detroit Pistons (Tuesday), the Orlando Magic (April 12), and Brooklyn Nets (April 14).

The Heat and Magic (45-31) are the only teams with winning records they’ll face. The Grizzlies (26-50), Spurs (18-58), Pistons (13-62), and Nets (30-47) are among the league’s worst teams.

Add Embiid’s presence and the Sixers have a chance of finishing no worse than 4-2 down the stretch.

The 7-foot-2, 280-pounder was rusty, had minimal lift on his jumpers, and was noticeably fatigued in Tuesday’s return. But Embiid still finished with 24 points, seven assists, and three steals in 29 minutes, 22 seconds. He went 12-for-12 from the foul line, with eight coming in the fourth quarter. Embiid scored four straight points from the foul line to give the Sixers a 108-105 lead with 25 seconds remaining. He also had the game-sealing steal.

“It’s like the first day of school again,” Kelly Oubre Jr. said. “You’re kind of coming back from spring break or winter break, and you’ve got your friend back. He’s the cool guy in class that we’ve definitely been missing. He’s been out for some time.

“But that’s our team. We built this team around him. And we have to continue to polish the pieces around it so we can be a well-oiled machine.”