The Sixers have successfully out-tanked the Raptors. They’re now in a two-team race with the Nets for the fifth slot in the lottery standings and the fourth slot might be in play.
This past week was a tanking masterclass from the Sixers. A week that appeared to have at least one win on the schedule, and potentially two, ended without any wins and saw the Sixers losing streak grow to eight. After watching a week come and go that included losses to the Pelicans, Wizards, Heat and Raptors, anything’s on the table for Philadelphia the rest of the season and a 15-game losing streak to end the year isn’t out of the question.
Should the Sixers lose their final seven games, they might be able to catch the New Orleans Pelicans for the fourth slot in the lottery standings. That was inconceivable for most of the season, and it’s still probably unlikely, but we’ve now included the Pelicans in this weekly tank watch article that was focusing almost exclusively on the Sixers, Nets and Raptors for the last month and change. We can safely forget about the Raptors now as Toronto appears destined to finish seventh in the lottery standings. Here are the odds Philadelphia retains its top-six protected first-round pick based on its finish in the lottery standings:
With a fourth-place finish: 81% chance of retaining the pick
With a fifth-place finish: 64% chance of retaining the pick
With a sixth-place finish: 46% chance of retaining the pick
The Sixers will have no worse than slightly worse than a coin flip at keeping their first-rounder. The fifth slot in the lottery standings is where they currently sit, but Brooklyn remains very much in the mix for the spot. And so, on we roll with the schedules for New Orleans, Philadelphia and Brooklyn in the penultimate week of the 2024-25 regular season.
New Orleans (21-54): 4th in lottery standings
Schedule this week: @ LAC Wed, @ LAL Fri, vs. MIL Sun
Philadelphia (23-52): 5th in lottery standings
Schedule this week: @ NY Tues, vs. MIL Thurs, vs. MIN Sat
Brooklyn (24-51): 6th in lottery standings
Schedule this week: @ DAL Mon, vs. MIN Thurs, vs. TOR Sun
With three teams currently in playoff positions on the schedule this week, the Sixers losing streak should get to 11 by Saturday night. Milwaukee and Minnesota are playing to avoid the play-in tournaments in the Eastern and Western Conferences respectively too. New Orleans has a game against Brooklyn next week which might be a win, but will have to pick up at least one win somewhere else in order to potentially be caught by the Sixers. Sunday against Toronto looks like the best chance for a Nets win this week. If the Sixers can grow their lead to two games over Brooklyn for the fifth seed by week’s end, Sixers fans can unequivocally root for the Pelicans against the Nets next week.