After briefly losing their grip on the No. 6 seed in the Eastern Conference with their loss to the Detroit Pistons on Saturday night, the Sixers got it right back on Sunday courtesy of the Boston Celtics. The Sixers’ hated rivals did them a solid by thumping the Toronto Raptors, which put them back into a tie with the Sixers at 43-35 apiece.<\/p>\n
The Sixers hold the tiebreaker over the Raptors, so if the two teams finish with the same record, the Sixers will land the higher seed. The Raptors are now headed into a two-game homestand against the Miami Heat before finishing their season with a road game against the New York Knicks and a home game against the Brooklyn Nets.<\/p>\n
The Raptors aren’t in action Monday, but a few of the other teams in the playoff\/play-in race are. Here’s what’s at stake for the Sixers on Monday as they try to fend off all challengers for the No. 6 seed.<\/p>\n
Knicks at Hawks, 7 p.m. ET<\/p>\n
Coming out of the All-Star break, the Hawks were four games below .500. They’ve lost only three games since then. <\/p>\n
They’re now 45-33 heading into Monday night’s showdown against the Knicks, which puts them two games ahead of the Sixers and Raptors. They also hold the tiebreaker over the Sixers, although the Raptors hold the tiebreaker over them.<\/p>\n
The Hawks do have a tough end-of-season stretch with a pair of games against the Cleveland Cavaliers on Wednesday and Friday and a road game against Miami on Sunday. However, the Cavs are locked into a top-four seed and might not have much to play for by Friday. <\/p>\n
Either way, a win over the Knicks on Monday would go a long way toward locking up the No. 5 seed for Atlanta. That would leave only one guaranteed playoff spot up for grabs.<\/p>\n
Pistons at Magic, 7 p.m. ET<\/p>\n
This is easily the game of the night for the Sixers (aside from their own game, that is).<\/p>\n
The Magic needed a furious fourth-quarter rally to squeak by the New Orleans Pelicans on Sunday, and they now have to take on the East-leading Pistons at home. The Pistons have already clinched the East, so they could start resting players down the stretch\u2014Tobias Harris (left knee) and Duncan Robinson (right hip) are both questionable for Monday’s game\u2014although Jalen Duren is not even listed on the injury report.<\/p>\n
The Pistons are still without Cade Cunningham (collapsed lung) and Isaiah Stewart (left calf), but they haven’t missed a beat with those two. They’re 9-2 since Cunningham went down, including an absolute shellacking of the Sixers on Saturday. Their only two losses sans Cunningham have both been in overtime.<\/p>\n
Paolo Banchero, Desmond Bane and Jalen Suggs each played at least 34 minutes against the Pelicans, while Franz Wagner (ankle) and Anthony Black (abdominal strain) are both likely to miss Monday’s game. <\/p>\n
A Pistons win would keep the Magic one game behind the Sixers even if the Sixers lose to the Spurs, but a Magic win combined with a Sixers loss would put both teams in a tie at 43-36. (The Sixers do hold the tiebreaker over the Magic, luckily.)<\/p>\n
Sixers at Spurs, 8 p.m. ET<\/p>\n
The good news for the Sixers is that other than Johni Broome (meniscus) and Cam Payne (hamstring), they’ll be entering this game at full strength. The bad news is that the Spurs are also entering this game effectively at full strength, and Victor Wembanyama has been on a rampage as of late in hopes of stealing the MVP award from Shai Gilgeous-Alexander.<\/p>\n
Joel Embiid hung 70 against Wembanyama and the Spurs two years ago in one of his crowning career performances, but the Wembanyama that he’s about to face Monday is a far different beast. Since the All-Star break, Wembanyama is averaging 25.8 points, 12.5 rebounds, 3.9 blocks, 2.8 assists and 2.1 three-pointers\u2026 and he’s doing it only it in only 30.2 minutes per game.<\/p>\n
The Spurs also boast a three-headed hydra at point guard with De’Aaron Fox, Stephon Castle and Dylan Harper. Tyrese Maxey, VJ Edgecombe and Quentin Grimes figure to have their hands full Monday night.<\/p>\n
This is the Sixers’ toughest game left on their schedule, so a loss here wouldn’t necessarily be crippling. But an unexpected win could go a long way toward them locking up the No. 6 seed.<\/p>\n
Sign up for our free newsletter and follow us on X<\/a> and Bluesky<\/a> for the latest news.<\/p>\n Unless otherwise noted, all stats via\u00a0NBA.com<\/a>, PBPStats<\/a>, Cleaning the Glass<\/a>\u00a0or\u00a0Basketball Reference<\/a>. All salary information via Spotrac<\/a> and salary-cap information via RealGM<\/a>.<\/p>\n