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 their regular-season finale behind Tyrese Maxey’s 21 points. Now, as they prepare for the postseason, here’s everything fans need to know ...

With the win and the Orlando Magic’ 113-108 loss to the Boston Celtics, the Sixers secured the No. 7 seed in the Eastern Conference. Orlando, the No. 8 seed, and the Sixers will play Wednesday in South Philadelphia (7:30 p.m., Prime Video).

If the Sixers win Wednesday, they would face the second-seeded Boston Celtics in the best-of-seven first round of the playoffs. If the Sixers lose Wednesday, they would host to the No. 9 Charlotte Hornets, who eliminated the No. 10 Miami Heat with a 127-126 win on Tuesday. In this scenario, the winner of that matchup would face the No. 1 seed Detroit Pistons in the first round, and the loser would be eliminated.

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

The Magic are led by three players scoring at least 20 points per game: Paolo Banchero, Franz Wagner, and Desmond Bane. Coming into the season, Banchero and Wagner figured to be one of the better frontcourts in the Eastern Conference, but the duo have not met these expectations — a big reason the Magic are in the 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,” he 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 Pistons for the NBA lead in clutch wins with 27. The NBA defines a clutch win as one that comes when the game is within five points during the final five minutes of the fourth quarter or overtime.

The answer to that question depends on how far the Sixers go. The earliest possible recovery from an appendicitis is three weeks, Temple Hospital surgeon David Stein 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 would be able to play in the second round of the playoffs. Of course, for this to happen, the Sixers will have to get past the play-in and the Celtics or Pistons.

In his absence, expect major minutes from backup big men Adem Bona and Andre Drummond. Since Embiid has been out this time, 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 the postseason became available to purchase on the Sixers website.

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.

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

This year, there won’t be any playoff games on NBC Sports Philadelphia, and that includes the Play-In Tournament, which will be televised exclusively on Prime Video.

From there, the games will be televised on a number of channels and streaming services: ABC, ESPN, NBC, Peacock, and Prime Video. If the Sixers advance to the playoffs, a potential Game 1 against the Celtics would be Sunday at 1 p.m. on ABC, and a Game 1 against the Pistons would be Sunday at 6:30 p.m. on NBC/Peacock.

Believe it or not, this year marks the seventh year since the NBA adopted the Play-In Tournament.

The Sixers previously participated in the play-in one other time, in 2024, defeating the No. 7 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.

Here’s a refresher on the format of the tournament, which will run from Tuesday to Friday: 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 faces 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 Saturday. 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:

Here’s how the Western Conference stacks up:

And here’s how it all looks in bracket format: