Sixers Play-In Tournament Schedule: Dates, Times, Opponents, TV Channel

Heading into Sunday, it seemed as though the Sixers were headed for the No. 8 seed in the East. Even if they beat the Milwaukee Bucks, they would have been the eighth seed as long as the Orlando Magic beat the Boston Celtics and the Toronto Raptors beat the Brooklyn Nets.

Boston and Brooklyn had nothing to play for, so they both rested basically all of their key rotation players. The Raptors and Magic played their starters.

Unsurprisingly, the Raptors annihilated the Nets. But the Magic couldn't put away the short-handed Celtics, which pushed the Sixers up to the No. 7 seed and the Magic down to No. 8.

Now, the Sixers and Magic will face one another on Wednesday for the right to draw the Celtics in the playoffs. If they lose, they'll host the winner of the Charlotte Hornets and Miami Heat play-in game on Friday. The winner of that game will face the Detroit Pistons in the first round of the playoffs.

Here's the viewing guide for perhaps the Sixers' penultimate game of the season.

Date: Wednesday, April 15

Time: 7:30 p.m. ET

Network: Amazon Prime

If the Sixers lose to the Magic, Friday's game will also be at 7:30 p.m. ET at home.

As long as the Sixers win one of their two play-in games and advance to the playoffs, their first playoff game will be on Sunday. If they're the No. 7 seed, they'll take on the Celtics at 1 p.m. ET (ABC). If they're the No. 8 seed, they'll face the Pistons at 6:30 p.m. ET (NBC/Peacock).

If you have plans for Sunday, now's the time to start working on changing them.

'A really tough game' awaits

Much like the Sixers, the Magic haven't been fully healthy for most of this season. A high ankle sprain sidelined Franz Wagner for a majority of the season, while both Jalen Suggs and Anthony Black missed 15-plus games as well.

But despite their unfathomably bad loss to the Celtics on Sunday, the Magic aren't sneaking up on the Sixers.

"Very good, very talented team," head coach Nick Nurse told reporters Sunday. They've been one of many teams in the league that hasn't been very healthy this year, so it'll be a really tough game."

The Magic will have a clear size advantage over the Joel Embiid-less Sixers, as Wagner, Paolo Banchero and Wendell Carter Jr. are all listed at 6'10". Paul George and Kelly Oubre Jr., who will spend the most time on Wagner and Banchero, are both 6'8".

The Sixers also have to decide which of their backup centers is better equipped to handle Orlando in Embiid's absence. Nurse might prefer the more experienced Drummond as his starter, but he figures to turn to Bona early and often as well.

That's just one of the many matchup questions that will determine whether the Sixers or Magic advance to face the Celtics. Unfortunately, Embiid's untimely bout with appendicitis effectively eliminates the Sixers' chances of moving beyond the first round.

Despite that, Nurse sees value in making the playoffs regardless.

"I always view it as everybody needs it," he told reporters Sunday. "You need it. Let's hope we get into a playoff series because I really think it's so valuable for everybody. Even the guys that have been in them a little bit need it.

"VJ [Edgecombe] obviously needs it. Tyrese [Maxey] needs some more. It's invaluable experience, and that's why you really want to get in it and go through it."

The Sixers will have their first chance to earn that playoff berth the hard way on Wednesday. In the meantime, they're left to ponder what could have been had they not dropped even one of their most regrettable losses this season.

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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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