March 11, 2026
Colleen Claggett/For PhillyVoice
Joel Embiid remains out without a clear timeline for a return.
Not even an unusually emotional late-season home win like the one the Sixers notched on Tuesday can truly save them.
A shorthanded Sixers rotation banded together in a dominant fourth quarter to beat the undermanned Memphis Grizzlies on Tuesday night, with a flurry of impressive individual performances powering them across the finish line. But with Tyrese Maxey facing a lengthy absence, Paul George remaining suspended for two more weeks and Joel Embiid still not having a clear timeline to return, the Sixers have one hell of an uphill battle ahead of them.
They have not done themselves any favors recently, and they have taken a nosedive in power rankings across the NBA as a result. As we do every Wednesday, checking out where our friends in the national media are at on the Sixers:
Before the Sixers split a back-to-back with a loss at Cleveland on Monday and Tuesday's win over Memphis, John Schuhmann pointed out that it will be tough sledding ahead, with the Sixers experiencing a massive drop in his rankings:
"With Maxey out, this week brings the Sixers’ only stretch of five games in seven days and two of their four remaining back-to-backs. They’re 4-9 (3-3 on the road) against the top four teams in the East, set to visit the Cavs on Monday and the Pistons three nights later." [NBA.com]
That is now 4-10 against the top four teams in the Eastern Conference, and it should become 4-11 on Thursday night when the Sixers take the floor in Detroit.
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Tim Bontemps and his ESPN colleagues managed to drop the Sixers even more significantly in their rankings, and it is hard to blame them for being ready to throw in the towel, given the team's volume of injuries:
"The injuries continue to pile up for Philadelphia, which is now without Joel Embiid, (oblique), Tyrese Maxey (finger) and VJ Edgecombe (back) in addition to Paul George remaining out due to suspension.As a result, the 76ers are now firmly in the play-in mix in the Eastern Conference standings -- they sit at No. 8 ahead of a game at Detroit on March 12 -- and have the potential to slide even further as long as these absences continue to linger." [ESPN]
Slipping to the No. 9 or No. 10 seed would be pretty brutal for the Sixers, who would then have to win two straight do-or-die games just to face whichever team finishes the regular season with the best record in the Eastern Conference in a seven-game series.
MORE: Maxey out for at least three weeks with tendon injury in finger
Law Murray – also before the Sixers split their back-to-back – handed out grades for each team's third quarter of the regular season. Fittingly, the Sixers' grade was far worse than their grades for the first two quarters. Murray gave the Sixers a B grade for each of the first two quarters of the season; his C grade for the third might be generous. But he is still selling stock:
"The Sixers continue to sink in these rankings. The defense has really struggled, while the offense is closer to league average. All-Star Tyrese Maxey averaged 6.6 assists and only 2.4 turnovers in the third quarter of the season, but he's out to begin this week due to a sprain in his shooting hand." [The Athletic]
Maxey, of course, will now be out for at least three weeks, which puts a massive dent in the Sixers' mission to secure a playoff berth.
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