76ers survive Magic in OT
The 76ers outlasted the Orlando Magic in overtime on Wednesday to advance through the play‑in and keep their postseason path alive ( ). The NBA posted a full game highlights package that breaks down the late possessions and decision points that decided the extra period (youtube.com). CBS’s bracket notes show the East still shifting — Charlotte will next face the loser of the Magic‑76ers matchup in the final berth scramble (cbssports.com).
Philadelphia beat Orlando 109-97 on Wednesday night, taking the Eastern Conference’s No. 7 seed and moving the Magic into a last-chance game on Friday. (nba.com) Tyrese Maxey scored 31 points for the 76ers, and rookie V.J. Edgecombe added 19 points and 11 rebounds in a game Philadelphia played without Joel Embiid. Orlando got 31 points from Desmond Bane in the loss. (apnews.com) The score was tied 55-55 at halftime, but Philadelphia won the second half 54-42 and finished the fourth quarter with a 30-23 edge. ESPN’s game log and the National Basketball Association recap both show the 76ers pulling away late rather than in overtime. (espn.com, nba.com) That result settled one half of the East play-in bracket. Under the National Basketball Association’s format, the winner of the No. 7 versus No. 8 game becomes the No. 7 playoff seed, while the loser gets one more game for the No. 8 seed. (nba.com) Philadelphia’s reward is a first-round series against the No. 2 Boston Celtics, with Game 1 scheduled for Sunday, April 19, at 1 p.m. Eastern time. Orlando now drops into the Friday play-in final. (nba.com, nba.com) The other East path is already set: Charlotte, the No. 9 seed at 44-38, advanced to face the loser of 76ers-Magic for the conference’s final playoff berth. The winner of that Friday game will draw the No. 1 Detroit Pistons in the first round. (nba.com, cbssports.com) The play-in is still a relatively new piece of the postseason. The National Basketball Association first used a version of it in 2020 and adopted it as a permanent format in 2022, turning seeds seven through 10 into a four-team race for the last two playoff spots in each conference. (nba.com) The late-game film mattered because Philadelphia had to close without its top star. The National Basketball Association’s highlight package shows Maxey’s scoring burst and the possessions that opened the gap in the final minutes, which is the sequence that kept the 76ers’ postseason alive and sent Orlando to one more elimination game. (youtube.com, nba.com)
