Sixers Magic Number and Playoff Berth Tracker

The Sixers' playoff hopes have taken hit after hit over the past few days. They were in pole position for the No. 6 seed in the East as recently as last week, and now they're fighting just to hold on to the No. 8 seed.

The good news is that they might get some help. The bad news is that they need a lot of it.

Here's a glimpse at the standings heading into Friday:

Seed	Team	Record	GB	Schedule
5	Toronto Raptors	45-35	-	@ NYK, vs. BKN
6	Atlanta Hawks	45-35	-	vs. CLE, @ MIA
7	Orlando Magic	44-36	1	@ CHI, @ BOS
8	Philadelphia 76ers	43-37	2	@ IND, vs. MIL
9	Charlotte Hornets	43-37	2	vs. DET, @ NYK
10	Miami Heat	41-39	4	@ WAS, vs. ATL

The Sixers have the tiebreaker over the Toronto Raptors, Orlando Magic and Charlotte Hornets, while the Atlanta Hawks and Miami Heat have the tiebreaker over them. Three- or four-team ties get even more complicated, but that doesn't seem like something the Sixers will likely have to worry about, unfortunately.

As long as the Raptors and Hawks win one of their last two games, they're both guaranteed to finish ahead of the Sixers in the standings. If the Magic win their last two games, they're also guaranteed to finish ahead of the Sixers.

That means the No. 8 seed might be the Sixers' ceiling now rather than their floor.

What's the Sixers' magic number?

By the end of Friday night, there's a non-zero chance that the Sixers are locked into the play-in tournament. The Cavaliers have ruled out both Donovan Mitchell and Jarrett Allen in their rematch against the Hawks, as they seem content with settling into the No. 4 seed.

The Raptors could face a tougher test against the Knicks, who are still trying to stave off the Cavs for the No. 4 seed and technically remain alive for the No. 2 seed. The Knicks aren't guaranteed to go all-out against them, though, especially since they're on the second night of a back-to-back after a hard-fought win against the Celtics.

The good news for the Sixers is that the Knicks are going into that game at relatively full strength. Miles McBride (core muscle) and Mitchell Robinson (left ankle) are both out and Tyler Kolek (right oblique) is questionable, but no one else is listed on the injury report for them. The Raptors will be without Immanuel Quickley (foot) and Collin Murray-Boyles (neck). There's a real chance that the Raptors lose, although they'd still finish ahead of the Sixers as long as they beat the Nets on Sunday.

Pistons-Hornets is the biggest swing game for the Sixers on Friday. Kevin Huerter (illness) is the only Pistons mainstay on the injury report, so it seems as though they're going to play their usual rotation even though they have the No. 1 seed in the East locked up. Granted, there's no guarantee that the play their starters for the full game.

If the Hornets win their last two games, the Sixers would also have to win their last two games to avoid dropping to the No. 9 seed. If the Pistons take care of business against the Hornets on Friday, the Sixers would need to win only one of their last two games to guarantee that they'd fall no lower than No. 8.

The Heat are two full games behind the Sixers with only two games left, although they do have the tiebreaker over the Sixers. If the Sixers lose out and the Heat win out, the Sixers could still fall all the way to No. 10. That means they'd have to go on the road to face the No. 9 seed in a win-or-go-home game on Wednesday.

Rooting guide for Friday

So, on Friday, Sixers fans should be rooting for the following:

Sixers beat Pacers (likely?)
Pistons beat Hornets (possible!)
Wizards beat Heat (lol)
Cavaliers beat Hawks (doubtful)
Knicks beat Raptors (possible!)
Magic beat Bulls (lol)

If all of that somehow happens, the Sixers would head into the final day of the regular season still live for the No. 6 seed. But if the Raptors and Hawks both win Friday, the Sixers will be locked into the play-in tournament.

From there, their focus will pivot from earning a guaranteed playoff spot to ensuring that they fall no lower than No. 8. Even if they lost to the No. 7 seed on Tuesday, they'd get to host the winner of the 9-10 game on Friday for the right to face the Pistons in the first round of the playoffs.

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Unless otherwise noted, all stats via NBA.com, PBPStats, Cleaning the Glass or Basketball Reference. All salary information via Spotrac and salary-cap information via RealGM.

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