It took just 64 games for the Philadelphia 76ers to be officially eliminated from the postseason race despite coming into the season with championship aspirations. Following a 95-118 loss to the Miami Heat, the Sixers are officially eliminated from the postseason pursuit, meaning you can finally unsquint your eyes and focus on the task at hand, the 2025 NBA Draft.
The Sixers have suffered some of the worst injury luck in franchise history and will now miss the postseason for the first time since the 2016-17 NBA season. For Miami, their journey is not yet finished.
Looking to secure their spot in the NBA’s Play-In tournament, the Miami Heat came into this game focused on taking care of their own business. They did so handily, winning all four quarters against the Sixers without a serious doubt about the outcome.
Still, as is the case in most games, there were some positives, some not-so-positives, and plenty of impact on the NBA’s tanking race tonight.
What went right
Jared Butler played perhaps the best game of his young career, posting an efficient 19 points and 10 assists.
Through 20 games played with the Sixers, Butler is averaging 10.3 points and 4.7 assists. Despite his uninspiring inefficiency, Butler has looked more and more comfortable. Over his last 10 games, Butler has increased those averages to 12.7 points and 5.3 assists while improving his accuracy from three, if nowhere else.
A full offseason with Philadelphia will go a long way, as will the return of many of the currently injured Sixers’ whose skill should open the floor up a bit more for Butler.
What went wrong
How much longer can the same narrative continue without becoming stale? Once again, the Sixers’ inability to defend cost them the game. The Heat managed to have their way both inside and out, scoring 48 points in the paint while knocking down 47.% of their threes on 43 attempts.
There is only so much that can be said as this Sixers roster is Frankstiened together with players on standard NBA deals, two-way contracts, and 10-day deals. Many of these players are not used to the number of minutes they’re suddenly forced to play, and it shows.
For some time, there has been no hope. Despite the team’s claims that they were within striking distance of making the playoffs and even making noise once there, little suggested any legitimacy to that claim, and plenty of signs pointed toward the team’s ultimate destiny this season.
After the game, Sixers Head Coach Nick Nurse discussed the team’s official elimination and this season’s struggle.
“I mean, obviously, it’s not anyway near where we had hoped it would be when we set out this summer and this fall,” Nurse said. “That’s for sure. That’s the only thing you can say is it was [a] super struggle… It just seemed like every time we had a good game and got a win or something, it costs us a player or two for the next one, and we could never really build any momentum, so obviously super, super disappointing, not where we want to be at all. That’s about it.”
At a certain point, there’s not much more you can say than that is disappointing. Hopefully, next season will be a bit brighter.
Sixers standings update
It felt like it would never happen, but it finally did. The Brooklyn Nets won while the Sixers lost, giving Philadelphia a major edge in the reverse standings. Despite trying their hardest to throw the game away in the final minutes, Brooklyn Nets forward Drew Timme, doing his best Vakidis impression, was apparently not told of the team’s plans and sealed the win with a layup in the closing seconds.
Philadelphia now sits in sole possession of the fifth spot in the reverse standings. Why is that placement so important? Because the Oklahoma City Thunder owns the Sixers’ first-round pick this year following the salary dump of Al Horford back in 2020. The pick is top-six protected, and the Sixers’ odds of retaining their pick increase from 45.8% to 64% by finishing with the fifth worst record compared to the sixth.
The Sixers are also three games behind the New Orleans Pelicans for the fourth-worst record in the league. That may be a bit too much to expect, but they are still within range, with eight games remaining for both teams. The Pelicans will face two tanking teams, the Charlotte Hornets and the Brooklyn Nets, in that time.
Up next for the Sixers
It’s another quick turnaround for Philadelphia, who will stay home and face the Toronto Raptors in their final back-to-back of the season. The Raptors are riding a three-game winning streak, albeit with those victories against the Wizards, Nets, and Hornets.
The Raptors have already announced who is apparently dealing with a serious case of sleeping beauty disease, as the healthy 25-year-old guard will miss his sixth game of his last 12 due to “rest.”
Tip-off is set for 7:30 p.m., and you can catch the game on NBC Sports Philadelphia or listen live as always at 97.5 F.M., the Fanatic.
