The Philadelphia 76ers are set to begin a hugely important road trip on Saturday when they take on the red-hot Charlotte Hornets before then heading down to South Florida to take on the Miami Heat. The Sixers are currently in a race to stay out of the play-in, but the Hornets and the Heat are nipping at their heels as Philadelphia looks to climb into the top 6.

Heading into this contest with the Hornets, the Sixers are only one game ahead of a Charlotte team that has turned its season around and has been one of the better teams in the league since the calendar turned to 2026. The winner of this matchup will also secure the tiebreaker as they are currently tied 1-1 in the 3-game season series. The same goes for the Heat on Monday as the tiebreaker is on the line there as well.

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“We feel that,” Quentin Grimes told reporters on Friday. “We know it’s at stake. We know it’s on the line. We know it’s a tiebreak. It’s 1-1 right now, with both of those teams. We have to come out with the right mindset, right attention to detail, right level of focus, and we should be able to get the job done.”

Every game counts at this point for the Sixers. There are nine games left and they are in the midst of a tight playoff race with very little margin for error. If Philadelphia wants to stay out of the play-in, it has to come up with wins. Starting with the Hornets on Saturday.

“Well, obviously, the race in general is making everything super interesting. Every single game matters, right?” coach Nick Nurse told reporters. “I think if you weren’t checking the standings earlier, you’re checking them now, and you’re watching the games every night, and listen, I think Charlotte’s obviously a big surprise to everybody, but they’re legitimately for real. I mean, they are very good. You guys can look at all the numbers, the record, everything they’re doing, who they’re beating, all that stuff is totally legitimate, right? It’s not like they’re doing it once in a while. It’s been a consistent thing here since the turn of the new year.”

To Nurse’s point, the Hornets have been terrific in all facets of the game. They are now 4th in the league in offensive rating and have even worked their way to 12th in defensive rating while being 6th in net rating. Since dropping to 11-23 on Jan. 2, the Hornets have gone 28-11 since to be in the position they are in and are currently on a 5-game winning streak after knocking off the New York Knicks on Thursday.

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“So, yeah, we got to get ready to go,” Nurse added. “I mean, tomorrow for sure, is a tremendous energy—the pace they’re playing, the energy, the amount of people they’re playing, I think 48 3s a game coming from all over the place. Everybody’s handling it. Everything’s happening really fast. So, we better be ready.”

Leaning on All-Star LaMelo Ball as well as rising stars Brandon Miller and Kon Knueppel, the Hornets are going to offer a stiff challenge for the Sixers. It can be something of a test for them.

“There’s just going to be no moments to relax or ease into anything,” Nurse finished. “It’s kind of on from the jump ball. So we’ll see. I think it’s a tremendous test for us, right? To see how we react to that and see how our bench can react to that too, because we’re gonna have to play all these guys that have been playing, which I think is a positive for us. I think we can throw some guys out there, and they’re definitely gonna play a lot of guys and with a lot of speed.”

This article originally appeared on Sixers Wire: Sixers stress importance of upcoming road matchups with Hornets, Heat