Tyrese Maxey will miss Sixers’ regular-season home finale against Miami; P.J. Tucker and De’Anthony Melton available

The Sixers (52-27) have already locked up the third seed in the Eastern Conference playoffs, but could directly impact their first-round matchup by beating the 42-37 Heat Thursday.

Tyrese Maxey had played in 44 consecutive games before missing Thursday's contest against the Miami Heat.Read moreElizabeth Robertson / Staff Photographer

by Gina Mizell

Published April 6, 2023, 2:17 p.m. ET

Tyrese Maxey will miss the 76ers’ regular-season home finale against the Miami Heat with neck stiffness, while P.J. Tucker (right calf tightness) and De’Anthony Melton (right calf tightness) are available to play after entering the game listed as questionable.

All three players were going through their shooting routines following Thursday morning’s shootaround, suggesting their inclusion on the injury report is more about the state of the regular season than significant health concerns.

The Sixers (52-27) have locked up the third seed in the Eastern Conference playoffs but could directly impact their first-round matchup by beating the 42-37 Heat on Thursday. A loss for Miami would lock the Brooklyn Nets (44-36) into the sixth seed. If the Heat top the Sixers Thursday, the Nets also can secure the No. 6 spot by beating the Orlando Magic on Friday or the Sixers in Sunday’s regular-season finale — or with a Heat loss to the Washington Wizards on Friday or to the Magic on Sunday.

“Every team in the East is pretty good, so I feel like it doesn’t really matter who we play,” reserve center Paul Reed said. “It’s all about us. If we don’t come out with the right intensity and the right focus, we’re not going to be able to beat any team. If we do come out with the right intensity and the right focus, we can beat any team. It really doesn’t matter.”

Melton will start in place of Maxey, which paves the way for Shake Milton to receive more minutes off the bench after falling out of the rotation in recent games.

Maxey is averaging 20.3 points per game, 3.5 assists, and 2.9 rebounds per game and is shooting 43.4% on 6.3 three-point attempts per game. He had played in 44 consecutive games since returning from a fractured foot that kept him out for more than a month early in the season.

After Thursday’s matchup against the Heat, the Sixers will close out the regular season with road games at the Atlanta Hawks on Friday night and the Nets on Sunday afternoon.

Blue Coats key for Reed’s development

Count Reed as somebody who is excited to see the Delaware Blue Coats on the verge of winning the G League championship, after they beat the Rio Grande Valley Vipers, 134-120, in Game 1 of their best-of-three Finals series on Tuesday night.

His experience with the Sixers’ minor-league affiliate played a significant role in his development. The third-year big man was the G League MVP during the 2020 “bubble” season, then spent much of last season toggling between the Blue Coats and Sixers before earning a rotation spot for the playoffs.

Reed credits Blue Coats coach Coby Karl with first instilling in him the importance of building trust with teammates and coaches through consistent movements on the floor — even while executing simple actions such as dribble-handoffs. That, combined with eliminating mental mistakes, is what Reed believes has helped him solidify the backup center position with the Sixers.

“Kind of doing the same things over and over again, so they know what I’m doing when I get the ball and they can know how to react to what I do,” Reed said. " … It makes it easier. That’s kind of one of the things I picked up [in Delaware] and brought to the big team.”

Second-year guard Jaden Springer, whom Reed calls “my little bro, for real,” has been charting a similar early-career path. The 2021 first-round draft pick spent nearly all of his rookie season with Delaware, before shuttled back and forth to spend stints with the Sixers this season. Though known more for tenacious perimeter defense, Springer totaled 43 points (including 5-of-8 from three-point range), nine rebounds, four assists and four blocks in Tuesday’s win over the Vipers.

“It’s good to see him thriving right now,” Reed said of Springer.

Game 2 of the Finals is Thursday night in Edinburg, Texas. The Blue Coats’ roster also features Sixers two-way players Mac McClung (the reigning NBA Slam Dunk champion) and Louis King, as well as former two-way players Charlie Brown Jr. and Michael Foster Jr. and former 10-day contract player Braxton Key.