Sixers (28-52) vs. Pacers (40-40)
7 p.m. on CSN; streaming live on CSNPhilly.com and the NBC Sports App
Two more games, ladies and gentlemen.
The Sixers' final home game of the season is tonight against the playoff-hopeful Indiana Pacers, currently the Eastern Conference's 7-seed.
Let's take a look inside the matchup:
1. Lottery watch
OK, let's be honest, if you're reading this, you're probably most interested in the ping-pong balls, right?
The results have been good to the Sixers lately in that regard. They've lost six in a row, the Kings have lost two in a row and the Lakers have won four straight.
The Sixers and Magic are currently tied for the NBA's fourth-worst record. If they finish tied, the number of ping-pong ball combinations for the 4-spot and 5-spot get added together and split in half. However, if neither tied team makes it into the top-3, a coin flip determines who gets the better pick (i.e. who would pick fourth, who would pick fifth).
NBA
The Lakers are 25-55, which is 1 1/2 games better than the Suns (24-57). If the Suns lose their final game tomorrow night against the Kings, they clinch the second-worst record. If they win and the Lakers lose their final two, they'd tie.
The Kings, Timberwolves and Knicks are also worth watching. New York is 30-51, while Minnesota and Sacramento are tied at 31-49. The Sixers want the Kings to finish worse than those other two teams to enhance their own draft odds because of the pick swap potential.
2. Pacers pushing for postseason
I still don't understand how the Pacers are not better than .500. They have so many good players -- two difference-makers in Paul George and Myles Turner, a solid point guard in Jeff Teague, a solid forward in Thaddeus Young, one of the game's best three-point shooters in C.J. Miles and a developing bench piece in Glenn Robinson III.
And yet they're 40-40.
The Pacers have the inside track to clinching one of the East's final two spots. They are a game better than the Bulls and Heat, who are each 39-41.
Indiana has the Sixers and Hawks left on their schedule. The Bulls have the lowly Magic and Nets. The Heat have the Cavaliers and Wizards.
The Pacers can clinch a postseason berth tonight if they beat the Sixers and either the Heat or Bulls lose. So you better believe Nate McMillan's team will be going all-out.
ESPN's Basketball Power Index gives the Bulls an 86.6 percent chance of making the playoffs, the Pacers an 80.1 percent chance and the Heat a 33.3 percent chance.
3. The best of what's left
The badly undermanned Sixers got solid contributions in Saturday's loss to the Bucks from three players in particular: Richaun Holmes, T.J. McConnell and Dario Saric.
Holmes had 17 points, 10 rebounds and made 3 of 4 threes.
McConnell had 10 points, 10 assists and three steals.
Saric, on a 24-minute limit, had 14 points, eight rebounds, four assists and two steals.
The number that sticks out the most in all of that is Holmes' three-point shooting. He's 8 for 15 from three in his last five games and is shooting 37.5 percent from beyond the arc for the season. That's a better-than-league-average number and it's especially impressive from a 6-foot-10 center. That kind of shooting will allow Holmes to be a solid backup center moving forward if he can keep it up.
4. PG County
Paul George probably won't make any of the three All-NBA teams because there are so many elite forwards (LeBron James, Kawhi Leonard, Draymond Green, Anthony Davis, Kevin Durant, Giannis Antetokounmpo), but he'd be the next man up.
George has averaged a career-high 23.5 points this season with 6.6 rebounds, 3.3 assists and 1.6 steals. He's shot 45.8 percent from the field, 39.2 percent from three and 89.7 percent from the line.
Since the All-Star break, when Indiana kept him rather than trade him to a team like Boston, his numbers are even better: 26.1 points, 7.4 rebounds, 48.3 percent from the field, 40.7 percent from three.
George's worst game in the last two weeks was actually against the Sixers in Indiana's 13-point win on March 26. He scored 21 points on 7 of 17 shooting (1 for 7 from three).
But tonight could be a different story with Robert Covington out.
5. Injuries
The usuals are out for the Sixers -- obviously Ben Simmons, Joel Embiid and Jerryd Bayless, along with Covington, Jahlil Okafor and Sergio Rodriguez.
For Indiana, only Robinson III is out.