The Philadelphia 76ers begin a five game road trip in Orlando against the Magic. The Sixers played Sunday afternoon and had a thrilling win over the Boston Celtics. The Magic last played on Friday, and they beat the Phoenix Suns to snap a four game losing streak.
Last time these two teams met, it was Feb 9th in Orlando. The Magic were victims of the TJ McConnell clutch-your-throat "in the guts of the game" shot to give the Sixers a 112-111 win. Dario Saric (who was drafted by the Magic) led the way off of the bench with 26 points. In fact, their bench outscored their starters 67-45. The Sixers overcame a 15 point deficit from the first quarter (although they themselves blew a 9 point lead in the 3rd quarter).
Fans of the teams are sort of on that tanking high (and you have to imagine management is looking at the standings too) so this game could be one of those "win by losing". Considering these two teams are right next to each other, this is really a game changer for lottery odds.
On the flip side, you can be sure there are fans looking for both teams to get as many wins as possible to build momentum for next season. Perhaps the teams can play spoilers to those teams playing for playoff seeding. Obviously, the players are not going to tank.
Regardless of what is hoped for at the end of the game, everybody is looking for a good game between these two. It may not be found, but the search is on.
Projected starters:
Sixers:
PG: TJ McConnell
SG: Timothe Luwawu-Cabarrot
SF: Robert Covington
PF: Dario Saric
C: Jahlil Pkafor
Magic:
PG: Elfrid Payton
SG: Evan Fournier
SF: Terrence Ross
PF: Aaron Gordon
C: Nikola Vucevic
Game Info:
Where: Amway Center, Orlando, Florida
When: 7 PM
Why: Because……ah…..
Watch: CSN Philly. Stream on NBC Sports App
Listen: 97.5 The Fanatic
