The Sixers are finishing their back-to-back on the road against the Hawks, who are in the playoff picture as Philly sit back with the seventh-worst record in the NBA.
Well, who’d have thought, the Sixers actually won on Sunday! Thanks to a host of solid performances from the team’s role players, led by Quentin Grimes and Lonnie Walker IV scoring 25 points each, the Sixers beat the Jazz, 126-122. It ended the team’s three-game losing streak and put a slight bump in their ever climbing lottery odds.
Lonnie filled the stat sheet.
25 PTS | 11 REB | 5 AST @PALottery pic.twitter.com/fAZ2hRnJzA
— Philadelphia 76ers (@sixers) March 10, 2025
On Monday, the Sixers are on the road to complete this back-to-back against the Hawks — a team that’s fared far better than Philly to fight into the bottom of the playoff picture. The Hawks currently sit at seventh place in the Eastern Conference at 30-34, and will be looking to extend their current win streak to three, following two straight solid wins against the Pacers.
With Joel Embiid shut down for the season and Paul George out as the Sixers take things day to day with recovery for his groin soreness (an injury that for some puzzling reason George has tried to play through for this faltering team), the Sixers will continue missing plenty of firepower in this one. While we’ll need to wait until nearer game time for a new official injury report, Tyrese Maxey did remain out on Sunday due to his lower back sprain.
For the Hawks, Jalen Johnson (left shoulder surgery), Kobe Bufkin (right shoulder surgery), and Larry Nance Jr. (right medial femoral condyle fracture) are all out, while Trae Young (left quad contusion) and Vit Krejci (lumbar fracture) are questionable.
Frankly, it’s hard to find much to look forward to in Sixers game right now — as has been the case for a while. With such underwhelming performance, poor health, and so many losses that hoping for keeping that lottery pick can’t be avoided, there aren’t many bright spots to focus on.
That said, maybe Kelly Oubre Jr. (who’s consistently showing up and playing just as you could hope for) and Grimes (thriving all around while averaging 17.4 points, 5.2 rebounds and 3.6 assists with a 61.2 true shooting percentage) can continue putting in strong performances. Adem Bona’s energy and impact at both ends may keep going too, even on more tired legs. Jared Butler also made the most of more minutes against Utah with a 15-point, nine-assist night.
Lottery odds are firmly on everyone’s minds at this point, though, so including them in previews now feels like part of the deal. The Sixers currently have the seventh-worst record in the league, and here are their current odds to keep their pick depending on a few key lottery positions:
5: 63.9% to keep pick, 10.5% for first overall
6: 45.8% to keep pick, 9.0% for first overall
7: 31.9% to keep pick, 7.5% for first overall
Essentially, dropping to fifth would make a huge difference.
This game likely won’t be pretty. That’s generally been the case recently even when the Sixers haven’t been tired and going on the road for the second nights of back-to-backs.
However, if we can get more solid showings from the Sixers’ role players for a little entertainment value before picking up another loss/improved odds in the lottery, that wouldn’t be a bad result right now.
Game Details
When: Monday, Mar. 10, 7:30 p.m. ET
Where: State Farm Arena, Atlanta, GA
Watch: NBC Sports Philadelphia
Radio: 97.5 The Fanatic
Follow: @LibertyBallers