Everything you need to know about the Sixers in the NBA playoffs: Schedule, bracket, how to watch, tickets, more

The 76ers are back in the NBA Play-In Tournament with two chances to return to the playoffs.

On Sunday, the Sixers took care of business against the Milwaukee Bucks 126-106 in the team’s regular-season finale behind Quentin Grimes’ 20 points.

With the win and the Orlando Magic suffering a 113-108 loss to the Boston Celtics, the Sixers secured the No. 7 seed. The two teams will face on Wednesday in South Philadelphia for the No. 7 seed in the NBA Playoffs (7:30p.m., Prime).

If the Sixers win on Wednesday, they would face the No. 2 Boston Celtics in the first round of playoffs. If the Sixers lose on Wednesday, they would play host to the winner of the No. 9 Charlotte Hornets and the No. 10 Miami Heat. In this scenario, the winner of said matchup would face the No. 1 seed Detroit Pistons in the first round.

The answer to that question is dependent on how far the Sixers go. The earliest possible recovery from an appendicitis is three-weeks, Temple Hospital surgeon David Stein previously told the Inquirer.

Stein, who is not treating the Sixers big man, noted that “usually, patients are out a month.” In the best-case scenario, Embiid will be able to take the court in the second round of the playoffs. Of course, for this to happen, the team will have to get by the Magic and the Celtics.

In his absence, expect major minutes from backup bigs Adem Bona and Andre Drummond. Since Embiid has been out this time around, Drummond has been the better of the two. In Sunday’s win over Milwaukee, he notched 12 points and 13 rebounds.

“The goal is to try to win a championship, regardless of if Joel Embiid plays or not. We’ve still got 14 other guys that are more than capable of helping us win basketball games,” Drummond told reporters on Friday.

Last Thursday, single game tickets for 2026 Postseason became available to purchase on the Sixers website. Tickets are still available to purchase on the Sixers website.

The Sixers went 2-1 against the Magic this season. In both wins, it was Maxey who led the way. With Embiid out, the Sixers’ All Star guard will need to step up again.

The Magic are led by three players notching at least 20 points per game: Paolo Banchero, Franz Wagner, and Desmond Bane. Coming into the season, Banchero and Wagner factored to be one of the better frontcourts in the Eastern Conference, but the duo have not met these expectations – a big reason why the Magic have found themselves in Play-In.

After Sunday’s loss, Banchero was asked what was the key to beat the Sixers. “Come out with urgency, that’s the biggest thing,” Banchero told reporters. “Can’t be relaxed. Season is on the line at this point. We’re just making it harder and harder on ourselves.”

One thing about the Magic this season, though, is that they win the close games. Orlando is tied with the Detroit Pistons with the highest amount of clutch wins in the entire NBA with 27. The NBA defines a clutch time as when the game is within five points during the final five minutes of the fourth quarter or overtime.

Dust off your old Allen Iverson jersey. The Sixers will be exclusively wearing their Iverson-era black throwback uniforms during every home game of the playoffs, as first reported by Philadelphia Sports Network’s Zach Ciavolella.

Additionally, every game at Xfinity Mobile Arena will be played on the the classic 2001 throwback court

Believe it or not, this year marks the seventh year since the NBA adopted the Play-In Tournament. The tournament will run from Tuesday to Friday and air exclusively on Prime Video.

The Sixers previously participated in the Play-In one other time in 2024, defeating the No. 7 Miami Heat 105-104. With the win, the Sixers moved on to a first round matchup against the No. 2 New York Knicks. The Knicks went on to eliminate the Sixers in six games.

If you do not remember the format here’s a refresher: In each conference, the No. 7 seed hosts the No. 8 seed. The winner of that matchup advances to the playoffs as the No. 7 seed, playing the No. 2 seed of its conference. The loser of that matchup will face the victor of the second play-in game between the No. 9 seed and the No. 10 seed. The outcome of that final game determines the No. 8 seed, which will face the No. 1 seed in the playoffs. Got it? If not, here’s the schedule:

Eastern Conference

Western Conference

The first round of the NBA Playoffs starts on April 18. The exact times and dates for the games have yet to be announced. After lots of movement in the standings this past week, the first round of the Eastern Conference playoffs will look like this:

Meanwhile, here’s how the Western Conference stacks up: