Sixers slip; Rockets pushing
Philadelphia has lost two straight and finds itself in the thick of the Eastern play‑in chatter, while Houston sits at 50‑29 and is still jockeying for a better Western seed. (oddsshark.com)
Philadelphia’s slide got worse on Thursday night: the 76ers lost 113-102 in Houston, dropped their third straight game, and fell into a tie with Charlotte for eighth place in the Eastern Conference with two regular-season games left. (nba.com, nba.com) That is the danger zone because the National Basketball Association play-in tournament only gives teams ranked seventh through tenth a second chance, and the current bracket shows Philadelphia sitting in the No. 8 slot at 43-37 instead of safely in the top six. (nba.com, nba.com) The game changed before tipoff when Joel Embiid was ruled out, and the official recap said he underwent an appendectomy in Houston after appendicitis struck overnight. The same recap said Philadelphia will be without Embiid indefinitely. (nba.com) That left Tyrese Maxey and rookie VJ Edgecombe carrying the offense, and they finished with 23 and 21 points while Philadelphia trailed by 9 after one quarter, 17 at halftime, and 23 after three. (nba.com) Houston is moving in the opposite direction. The Rockets improved to 51-29, stretched their winning streak to eight games, and the league’s playoff picture now lists them fifth in the Western Conference, one game behind the Los Angeles Lakers at 51-29 and one game behind Denver at 52-28. (nba.com, nba.com) Kevin Durant was the stabilizer in this one, scoring 29 points, while Jabari Smith Jr. and Amen Thompson added 19 each. When Philadelphia cut the lead to 101-94 in the fourth quarter, Durant ended Houston’s scoring drought with a three-pointer and then hit another late three to push the lead back to eight. (nba.com) The standings squeeze is what makes this more than one bad night for Philadelphia. The Sixers entered the Houston game at 43-36 and only one game out of sixth, but one loss and one Embiid emergency later they are staring at a path that likely runs through the play-in instead of a full week to prepare for a first-round series. (nba.com, nba.com) The Rockets have a different kind of pressure. They already clinched a postseason berth, but the official recap said they are still battling Denver and the Lakers for Western Conference seeding, which is the difference between opening against a lower seed and starting on the road against a stronger one. (nba.com, nba.com) There is almost no time to breathe because the National Basketball Association schedule has Philadelphia at Indiana on Friday, April 10, and Houston back home against Minnesota on the same night. The play-in tournament starts on April 14, so every result now lands like a tiebreaker even when it is not one on paper. (nba.com, nba.com)
