The Philadelphia 76ers and Orlando Magic took different paths to the same record this season.
On Wednesday night, they’ll be occupied with the same high-stakes task when the 76ers host the Magic in an Eastern Conference play-in tournament game.
Both teams finished 45-37 during the regular season, but Philadelphia finished in seventh place in the East and earned home-court advantage Wednesday by virtue of winning two of three games against Orlando.
The winner of Wednesday’s game advances to the main bracket as the seventh seed and will play a best-of-seven series against the second-seeded Boston Celtics.
The loser will play again Friday night, hosting the winner of Tuesday night’s game between the ninth-place Charlotte Hornets and the 10th-place Miami Heat for the right to earn the eighth seed and a first-round date with the top-seeded Detroit Pistons.
Orlando appeared likely to secure the home-court advantage when it entered Sunday’s regular-season finale with a one-game lead over the 76ers. But the Magic’s comeback bid came up short in a 113-108 loss to the Celtics, who sat their top seven scorers, while Philadelphia beat the Milwaukee Bucks 126-106.
The surprise loss continued a discouraging trend of inconsistency for the Magic. They were expected to emerge as an Eastern Conference contender after reaching the playoffs for a second straight season last year despite the quartet of Paolo Banchero, Franz Wagner, Jalen Suggs and Moritz Wagner combining to play just 171 games.
While Franz Wagner (high ankle sprain) and Moritz Wagner (recovery from a torn ACL) combined to play only 70 games this season, the trio of Banchero, Suggs and offseason acquisition Desmond Bane missed a total of just 35.
Yet Orlando won more than three straight games just twice this year and lost six straight immediately after a season-long seven-game winning streak from March 3-14. The Magic had a five-game winning streak snapped Sunday.
“I think collectively, we just have to have more urgency,” Banchero said Sunday. “We can’t expect to win just because (opponents’) guys are out.”
Expectations were lower for the 76ers, who went 24-58 last year and entered this season still built around the aging duo of Joel Embiid and Paul George.
Embiid, 32, lost 44 games due to a variety of injuries and illnesses and will miss Wednesday’s tilt following an emergency appendectomy last week. George, 35, was limited to 37 games following left knee surgery last offseason and a 25-game drug suspension.
But the 76ers, keyed by emerging star point guard Tyrese Maxey, 25, and 20-year-old rookie VJ Edgecombe, won their first four games of the season and never slipped back to .500. Maxey averaged 28.3 points per game while playing a league-high 38 minutes per contest. Edgecombe averaged 16.0 points and 5.6 rebounds over a team-high 75 games.
In addition, George has averaged 21.0 points per game since returning March 25.
“We’ve got a lot of ceiling to go yet,” 76ers head coach Nick Nurse said. “So hopefully, we get to play a bunch of games and keep improving.”
–Field Level Media
