April 12, 2026
Colleen Claggett/For PhillyVoice
Kelly Oubre Jr. has had his best three-point shooting season in three years with the Sixers.
It was 172 days ago that the Sixers marched into Boston and began their 2025-26 regular-season schedule with a statement victory. Behind 40 points from Tyrese Maxey and 34 from VJ Edgecombe in one of the best NBA debuts of all time, the Sixers pulled off a come-from-behind win over the rival Celtics.
A whole lot has transpired since, yet there is still much to be determined on Sunday evening, when 30 NBA teams will do battle in their 82nd and final games.
Where will the Sixers land in the Eastern Conference standings? What will come of the Houston Rockets' first-round pick, acquired by the Sixers from the Oklahoma City Thunder, in the Jared McCain trade?
Here is what Sixers fans should be rooting for on Sunday:
• Of course, Sixers fans should be rooting for the Sixers to win at home against the Milwaukee Bucks.
This would not guarantee the Sixers a bump in the standings, but a Sixers loss would cement them as the No. 8 seed in the Eastern Conference. They need to win to give themselves any chance at receiving help, as unlikely as it appears that said assistance will arrive.
Charlotte-Miami will be the Eastern Conference's 9-10 game.
— Adam Aaronson (@SixersAdam) April 11, 2026
Sixers possibilities:
No. 6 seed: Sixers win vs MIL, Raptors lose vs BKN, Magic lose @ BOS
No. 7 seed: Sixers win, one of Raptors/Magic win, one of Raptors/Magic lose
No. 8 seed: Sixers lose or both Raptors/Magic win
• Sixers fans should also be rooting for the Brooklyn Nets to win on the road against the Toronto Raptors and the Boston Celtics to win at home against the Orlando Magic.
Even if the Sixers win, they will remain the No. 8 seed as long as Toronto and Orlando handle their business against Brooklyn and Boston. But the Sixers would jump to No. 7 if they win and one of Toronto or Orlando loses, and they would make a shocking jump to No. 6 if both Toronto and Orlando lose.
Brooklyn should do its best to lose to Toronto, just in case an Indiana Pacers win enables them to pull into a tie for second place in the lottery standings. And Boston has already ruled out Jayson Tatum, Jaylen Brown, Derrick White and Neemias Queta, while also listing Payton Pritchard, Sam Hauser and Nikola Vučević as doubtful against Orlando.
A late-season surge from the Rockets has been detrimental to the Sixers, who at one point late in the season looked like they could pick as high as No. 21 overall. All hope has not been lost; getting the No. 22 overall pick remains in play for the Sixers. Here is how the lottery standings look entering Sunday, courtesy of Tankathon:
So, which games in this region of the standings are important?
• Sixers fans should be rooting for the Memphis Grizzlies to win on the road against the Rockets.
While the Rockets are locked into the No. 5 seed in the Western Conference and have nothing to play for, do not hold your breath on this one – coming off a 46-point loss to the Utah Jazz in which they only used six players, the Grizzlies are ending their season with as emphatic of a tanking effort as one can find.
• Sixers fans should be rooting for the Cleveland Cavaliers to win at home against the Washington Wizards and the Los Angeles Lakers to win at home against Utah.
Cleveland, even without anything to play for, should beat the NBA-worst Wizards, and after their unfortunate win over Memphis on Friday, look for Utah to bounce back with a loss to the Lakers.
The likeliest outcome at this point is a tie between Cleveland and Houston for the No. 22 pick, as the current standings reflect. The Atlanta Hawks own Cleveland's pick, so this scenario would lead to the Sixers and Hawks participating in a random drawing for picks No. 22 and No. 23. The Lakers winning would ensure there is not a three-way tie, which could drop the Rockets' pick down to No. 24 overall.
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