Philly Front Office

Yesterday the NBA came out and said that it had no problem with teams actively trying to lose in-game to tank their draft status, so long as All-Star level players at least suit up and step on the court. Even if only for a minute, it has been determined that that minute is somehow more honest than a player sitting out entirely. This means that the tactics used by the Raptors and Jazz of removing good players from close contests is fair game. I just don’t understand how a team not playing good players at all but trying to win with what they have is considered worse than a team taking those players out during a close game and trying to lose. That’s insane. How has this not been connected to the NBA’s lucrative sponsorships with MGM, Ceaser’s, and DraftKings?

Sixers, take note. If the NBA forces Tyrese Maxey or anyone else to play in these last few games, start them, call time, and take them out. That is a mockery of their position but perfectly fine apparently. If the Sixers had thought of this before Utah and Toronto, the NBA would not have the same opinion.

Anyway, since resting non-All-Stars is completely fine, the Sixers decided to give Quentin Grimes the night off against the putrid Pelicans. What a perfectly timed rest day that was. This gave us a fighting chance against Kelly Olynyk and the 10-day contract of Elfrid Payton. Other than a brief run in the 3rd quarter that prevented an absolutely pathetic wire-to-wire defeat to one of the worst teams in the league, this game was never in doubt. I admittedly didn’t watch the game, but the box score gives us an interesting statistical anomoly. The Sixers five starters were a combined -3 while all playing 30-35 minutes. Jalen Hood-Schifino on the other hand was an astonishing -27 in his 19 minutes on the court. VERY impressive work by the hyphenate.

The Nets and Raptors were also in action. The Nets faced a re-Anthony Davis-ed Mavs team (thanks guys, you couldn’t have given him an extra day?) and were down my double digits for good with 2 minutes left in the first quarter. Fun Sixers-Mavericks fact: Since Dallas defeated Philly on Feb. 4, the Sixers are 3-20! The Raptors attempted to do their Raptors thing by taking out their talent with 8 minutes to go and up by 2, alas, they still won. Washington is not some amateur who takes that bait.

Lottery Odds

The Nets and Sixers remain tied for the 5th spot. I’ve said it before, but defeating Brooklyn will be the biggest win for the Sixers since Game 1 of the NBA Finals in 2001. Toronto’s win puts them 2 back.

1 – 9.8%

2 – 9.9%

3 – 10.0%

4 – 10.1%

5 – 2.2%

6 – 20.1% (Odds split due to tiebreaker)

Total – 62.1 % chance to keep the pick

Playoff Odds

Magic Elimination Number: 4. It’s almost here. By the time the Heat and Sixers final buzzer sounds on Saturday, we could be eliminated!

(Note: If the Sixers qualify for the play-in but don’t end up making the playoffs, they still have a chance to win the lottery)

Per Basketball Reference, our current odds to finish in each place are:

10 or better – <.1%

11 or worse – >99.9%

Odds of winning the play-in and making the playoffs – >.1%

For those who just want to watch the world burn:

37.9% chance of missing the playoffs AND not keeping a draft pick (same)

Games to Follow Coming Up

Numbers in parenthesis is the number of games ahead and behind the Sixers in the standings. Sixers record is 23-49 with 10 games to play.

March 25

• Golden State at Miami – Come on Heat, get some revenge on Jimmy Butler

March 26

• Washington at Sixers – The toughest of challenges. To beat the Nets, we have to go through Washington, twice. We have won the last 6 against them, so maybe they are due.
• Toronto (+2) at Brooklyn (EVEN) – This one is HUGE. On a night where the Sixers have a good shot at winning, one of these teams being guaranteed of a victory really helps. Ideally, Brooklyn pulls this out and the Sixers lose.