By Peter Brennan
The Sixers have a rare back-to-back weekend at home against the Pacers today and the Pistons to finish the NBA season.
They are 49-31, and they are in fourth place in the East, 3 1/2 games behind No. 1 Miami.
The No. 2 seed is open among three teams (Milwaukee, Boston and Philly) and the standings are so tight, there’s a scenario where the 76ers fall to the fifth seed if they lose their remaining two games and Toronto wins their final two games.
Two-team tiebreaker for the second, third and fourth seeds
Sixers-Celts The season series is tied at 2-2, so division winner will determine that tiebreaker. If they’re tied in the division, the next tiebreaker will be better winning percentage against teams in the Atlantic Division, and that tiebreaker goes to Boston.
Sixers-Bucks – Milwaukee owns the tiebreaker by virtue of 2-1 lead in season series.
Three-way tie between Boston-Philly and Milwaukee
The first tiebreaker in a three-way tie is division winner. Milwaukee will win its division and either Philadelphia or Boston will win or tie for the Atlantic Division. The next tiebreaker is winning percentage against each other followed by better winning percentage against teams in own division and/or conference and then better winning percentage in games against playoff-eligible teams.
There is a scenario where the Sixers lose their remaining games, and the Raptors win out and get the fourth seed and Philadelphia drops to the fifth seed. That would mean a 4-5 first-round matchup between the two teams with Toronto owning the home-court advantage. That raises the question of Sixers guard Matisse Thybulle’s eligibility. He is not fully vaccinated and was not eligible to play in the Sixers’ game at Toronto on Thursday because of Canada’s COVID-19 vaccine policy.
