There are a lot of winnable games this week for Philadelphia, Brooklyn and Toronto.
It’s not being hyperbolic to suggest that this upcoming week is the biggest one in the Sixers’ season. Given that 2024-25 never showed a glimmer of hope, as the tank train has gained passengers, getting home with the fifth-best lottery odds is the only thing that matters to most fans with 11 games remaining in the regular season. It is imperative that Philadelphia finishes with the fifth-best odds come lottery night as its chances of retaining its top-six protected first-rounder are twice as good than if it finishes seventh. The Sixers will have a 64% chance of retaining their pick if they finish fifth in the lottery standings. It’s a 45% chance of retention at sixth and the percentage drops to just 32% if they finish seventh.
If you haven’t noticed already, the race between the Sixers, Nets and Raptors for these three spots in the lottery standings is insanely close. What’s even scarier — or exciting, depending on if you’re a glass-half-full or glass-half-empty person — are the schedules for all three teams this week. For a few weeks, we’ve been stuck in the lottery standings with the Sixers, Nets and Raptors hanging out in their own tier and there hasn’t been a lot of movement between the teams. Well, that could certainly change this week. Without further ado, I present you the upcoming schedules for the three teams.
Philadelphia (23-48): T-5th in lottery standings
Schedule this week: @ NO Mon, vs. WSH Wed, vs. MIA Sat, vs. TOR Sun
Brooklyn (23-48): T-5th in lottery standings
Schedule this week: vs. DAL Mon, vs. TOR Wed, vs. LAC Fri, @ WSH Sat
Toronto (24-47): 7th in lottery standings
Schedule this week: @ WSH Mon, @ BKN Wed, vs. CHA Fri, @ PHI Sun
Each team plays four games this week. The Raptors will visit both Brooklyn and Philadelphia. All three teams get a game against the league’s worst team in the Wizards. The only opponent for any of the three teams that is over .500 this week is the Clippers who play the Nets on Friday night.
All three teams have played 71 games and have four games this week. Meaning in one week’s time, all three teams will have just seven games remaining in the season. The schedules are rife with winnable games therefore if any one team does too much winning this week, it might solidify that team into the seventh seed in the lottery standings. In other words, the all-important five seed might not be clinched this week, but if the Sixers do a lot of winning this week, we’ll likely look back on those wins as the ones that ensured they send their first-rounder in this summer’s draft to Oklahoma City.