Sixers Playoffs Rooting Guide for NBA Games on March 31

Heading into Tuesday's action, only 3.5 games separate the fifth-seeded Toronto Raptors from the 10th-seeded Charlotte Hornets. The seventh-seeded Sixers are smack dab in the middle of that morass.

Monday's loss to the Miami Heat was a major blow to the Sixers' chances of securing a top-six seed (and the guaranteed playoff berth that comes with it), but the race isn't over yet. Given how tight the standings are, every day will feature at least a handful of games with major implications for the Eastern Conference playoff picture.

With that in mind, we're going to start providing a daily preview of the games that matter most to Sixers fans. Let's kick it off with a key matchup for the team sitting right below the Sixers in the standings.

Phoenix Suns at Orlando Magic, 7 p.m. ET

The Magic are 3-7 over their last 10 games, and both Anthony Black (abdominal strain) and Franz Wagner (high ankle sprain) are set to miss this showdown with Phoenix.

The Suns are on the second night of a back-to-back, although they kept their starters' minutes in check Monday in their blowout win over the Memphis Grizzlies. They're also expected to get Dillon Brooks back after he missed the past 18 games with a fractured hand.

The Suns recently snapped a five-game losing streak with a 22-point win over the Toronto Raptors. They followed that up with a close loss to the Denver Nuggets and then annihilations of the tanking Utah Jazz and Grizzlies. The Magic will be a far stiffer test, even without Black and Wagner.

The Sixers hold the season-series tiebreaker over the Magic, so if the two teams finish with the same record, the Sixers will be the higher seed. This is the start of a back-to-back for the Magic—they face the Atlanta Hawks at home on Wednesday—so a loss here could go a long way toward ensuring that they finish in the play-in tournament.

Charlotte Hornets at Brooklyn Nets, 7:30 p.m. ET

The Sixers aren't likely to get so lucky with the Hornets, who face the tanking Nets on Tuesday. Although the Nets just beat the Sacramento Kings on Sunday, they had lost 10 straight games prior to that.

Michael Porter Jr. (hamstring), Egor Demin (plantar fascia), Danny Wolf (ankle), Terance Mann (Achilles) and Day'Ron Sharpe (thumb) are all out for the Nets, while the Hornets are heading into this matchup at full strength. They're likely going to annihilate the Nets.

The good news for the Sixers is that the Hornets finish their regular-season schedule with a road trip to Minnesota and Boston, followed by a home game against the Detroit Pistons and a road game against the New York Knicks. The Celtics, Pistons and Knicks might not have much to play for at that point, but those look like tough tests on paper for now.

Toronto Raptors at Detroit Pistons, 8 p.m. ET

This is the game of the night for the Sixers' purposes.

The Pistons are fresh off a hard-fought, short-handed overtime loss to the OKC Thunder on Monday, while the Raptors haven't played since their shellacking of the Magic on Sunday. Detroit held out Jalen Duren, Tobias Harris and a few other key players from Monday's game so they'd all be fresh for this showdown against the Raptors. Duren, Harris and Duncan Robinson are all probable, while Caris LeVert and Marcus Sasser are questionable.

The Sixers and Raptors split their season series two games apiece, so division record will be their tiebreaker. The Raptors are only 4-10 in the Atlantic, while the Sixers are 9-7, so they effectively own the tiebreaker over Toronto.

Unfortunately, three of the Raptors' final eight games come against tanking teams (Sacramento, Memphis and Brooklyn). If they win those three alone, the Sixers would have to go no worse than 4-3 over their final seven games. If the Raptors pick up a win against Detroit on Tuesday or beat the Miami Heat even once in their two-game series against them next week, the math gets even tougher for the Sixers.

In other words, the Sixers desperately need the Pistons to beat the Raptors on Tuesday.

New York Knicks at Houston Rockets, 8 p.m. ET

The Knicks are more or less locked into a top-four seed, but this game has two sneaky implications for the Sixers.

If the Sixers finish as the No. 5 or No. 6 seed, they're likely to draw either the Knicks or Cleveland Cavaliers in the first round of the playoffs. It's unclear which of those teams they should prefer—would you rather deal with Jalen Brunson's nonstop grifting or a potential revenge series from James Harden?—but this game could go a long way toward deciding that.

Additionally, the Sixers own the Rockets' first-round pick courtesy of the Jared McCain trade. The Rockets are only a half-game behind the Minnesota Timberwolves for fifth in the West and have the ninth-easiest remaining schedule, according to Tankathon, so Sixers fans should be rooting for them to take an L against the Knicks. Their pick could realistically land anywhere from Nos. 21-25 depending on what happens Tuesday.

Cleveland Cavaliers at L.A. Lakers, 10:30 p.m. ET

This game only has implications for the Sixers if they secure the No. 5 or No. 6 seed, but it's worth monitoring either way. The red-hot Lakers have gone 15-2 over the past month, while the Cavs are 6-1 over their past seven games, although most of those came against tanking teams.

The Cavs are on the second night of a back-to-back and had a closer-than-expected win over the Jazz on Monday, which prevented them from keeping their starters' minutes in check. Harden played 39 minutes against Utah, while Donovan Mitchell played 36.

The Lakers are also on the second night of a back-to-back, but they limited their starters' minutes in a blowout of the Wizards. Luka Dončić also missed that game due to a one-game suspension for his 16th technical foul of the season, so he should be fresh.

If the Sixers wind up in the play-in tournament, this game will be completely inconsequential to them. But if they manage to secure a top-six seed, it could go a long way toward deciding their first-round opponent.

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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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