Eliminated from the NBA Cup, Sixers get games vs. Pacers and Hornets added to their schedule
They’ll host the Pacers on Dec. 13 and visit the Hornets on Dec. 16.
CHARLOTTE, N.C. — The 76ers were eliminated from the NBA Cup’s knockout round long before facing the Charlotte Hornets in Tuesday night’s East Group A finale.
The Sixers knew they would be assigned two more regular-season games after defeating the Hornets, 110-104, at the Spectrum Center. And, on paper, the league awarded the Sixers (5-14) two winnable games.
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They’ll play the Indiana Pacers at 7 p.m. on Dec. 13 at the Wells Fargo Center. Then the Sixers will travel back to Charlotte for a rematch with the Hornets on Dec. 16.
The Sixers are 2-0 against Charlotte (6-15), including a 107-105 overtime victory on Nov. 10. The Sixers defeated the Pacers, 118-114, in overtime on Oct. 27. Indiana is 9-13.
The Milwaukee Bucks, New York Knicks, Atlanta Hawks, and Orlando Magic are the Eastern Conference teams that advanced to the knockout stage. The Knicks advanced as the No. 2 seed, and the Magic, also from East Group A, is the conference’s wild card.
The West squads that advanced to the knockout stage are the Oklahoma City Thunder, Houston Rockets, Golden State Warriors, and Dallas Mavericks.
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The quarterfinals of the single-elimination knockout round will be played in the teams’ markets on Tuesday and Wednesday before the tourney transitions to Las Vegas. The semifinals are scheduled for Dec. 14 and the championship game is Dec. 17. The Sixers finished third in their group with a 2-2 record.