The Philadelphia 76ers are in Miami on Monday night as their season winds down, taking on the Heat as their draft picks status remains in limbo. The Sixers are trying to stay ahead of the Brooklyn Nets for the fifth-worst record in the league and a better chance at retaining their first-round pick in this year’s upcoming draft.
Meanwhile, the Heat are in tenth place in the Eastern Conference. The only thing that matters for them is a slight change in seeding that won’t affect the teams they will face in the play-in tournament.
Sixers game information
Who: Philadelphia 76ers (23-55) at Miami Heat (35-43)
When: 7:30 p.m. EST
Where: Kaseya Center, Miami Fl
Watch: NBC Sports Philadelphia
Latest on the Sixers
The Sixers are amid an eleven-game losing streak as the season grinds to a close. Their last win came back on March 16th over the Mavericks. While this would normally be horrible for the team, as this season has gone, the Sixers couldn’t ask for a better stretch. The one light at the end of this tunnel has been that the Sixers could retain their first-round pick in the draft, keeping it from the Oklahoma City Thunder for one more season.
While players like Quentin Grimes, Guerschon Yabusele, Jared Butler, Justin Edwards, and Lonnie Walker IV have all been impressive over the past few weeks, the team just doesn’t have the talent or firepower to compete with 80% of the teams in the league. That will all change next season as the team will see its stars, Joel Embiid, Paul George, and Tyrese Maxey, all return (hopefully) to health, but for this lost season, the lone bright spot will be to retain that pick, and draft in the top five where they’ll be able to secure a talent that could help them immediately.
The Sixers continue to shoot poorly from the floor and beyond the three-point line, while their defense has continued to allow teams to shoot very well from both inside and outside of the paint. Working on their defense while allowing the young players to continue seeing quality minutes will make a huge impact on the players they return to next season, and that’s the best that they can hope for this season.
Latest on the Heat
After winning six games in a row, the Heat lost their last two games to the Grizzlies and Bucks as they host the Sixers. With Bam Adebayo, Tyler Herro, and Andrew Wiggins, the Heat have some talent but are stuck at the end of the Eastern Conference playoff picture, which, except for the Cavaliers and Celtics, isn’t very good this year. The expectations were higher when the season started, but that was before the recently traded Jimmy Butler started his campaign to leave town.
The Heat shouldn’t have a hard time with the Sixers’ C squad, but they’re facing some injury concerns of their own. Adebayo, Herro, and Wiggins are listed as questionable, and Nikola Jovic and Kevin Love are listed as out for the team. Duncan Robinson and Davion Mitchell are available, but considering the Heat still have the opportunity to jump into the eighth or ninth seed, any of Adebayo, Herro, and Wiggins may push through to seal the win.
What to watch for tonight
The big question is whether the Sixers will lose again while keeping their distance of two games over the Nets. With four games left in the season for both teams, the Sixers need to continue to lose to secure the fifth-worst record and hope for some luck with the Pelicans, who could win a couple of games and the Sixers sneak into the fourth-worst record in the league.
While you can count on some excitement, the way the Sixers have been shooting of late doesn’t bode well for their chances against the Heat. The Heat still have Adebayo, Robinson, and Mitchell to contend with as they want to break their small losing streak. The matchup will be tough for both teams, and the Sixers do have a good number of healthy young players who can put together what’s needed for a win.
Prediction
Sixers 117 – Heat 109
