Sixers

The Sixers are One Game Out of the Five Seed and the Title Run is Back On

By Kevin Kinkead

Published: Mar 26th, 2026 · 10:46 AM EDT

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Tell ya what –

The Sixers looked good on Wednesday night. Sure, the Chicago Bulls totally stink, but Joel Embiid casually dropped 35 in 28 minutes after a month off and PED Paul George went 6-13 from three after serving his 25-game suspension. Valdez Drexel Edgecombe dumped in 22 while the Sixers cruised to a 157 to 137 victory.

And they did it without Tyrese Maxey and Kelly Oubre Jr., who remain injured.

In all honesty, the rest of the NBA failed in March. They had a chance to bury the Sixers entirely and push them down into the 10 spot during the lengthy PG and Embiid absences.

Instead, the role players kept the ship afloat, going 6-7 this month before Wednesday night. They beat the tanking Jazz (2x), Kings, Nets, Blazers, and Grizzlies. At the same time, Miami, Orlando, and Toronto went a combined 19-19, resulting in an Eastern Conference that now looks like this:

Eastern Conf Standings

#	Team	W	L	W%	GB	Division	Streak
1	Detroit Pistons	52	20	0.722	–	Central	L1
2	Boston Celtics	48	24	0.667	4.0	Atlantic	W1
3	New York Knicks	48	25	0.658	4.5	Atlantic	W7
4	Cleveland Cavaliers	45	28	0.616	7.5	Central	L1
5	Atlanta Hawks	41	32	0.562	11.5	Southeast	W3
6	Toronto Raptors	40	32	0.556	12.0	Atlantic	L1
7	Philadelphia 76ers	40	33	0.548	12.5	Atlantic	W1
8	Miami Heat	39	34	0.534	13.5	Southeast	W1
9	Charlotte Hornets	38	34	0.528	14.0	Southeast	W4
9	Orlando Magic	38	34	0.528	14.0	Southeast	L6
11	Chicago Bulls	29	43	0.403	23.0	Central	L1
11	Milwaukee Bucks	29	43	0.403	23.0	Central	L2
13	Washington Wizards	17	55	0.236	35.0	Southeast	W1
14	Brooklyn Nets	17	56	0.233	35.5	Atlantic	L9
15	Indiana Pacers	16	57	0.219	36.5	Central	L1

A few weeks ago this thing looked completely untenable, with the Sixers firmly in play-in territory and likely to match up with Boston or Detroit should they make it through. Now they’re in a position to chase Atlanta and Toronto down the stretch here and steal the five seed, which would set up a first round matchup against Cleveland. The Cavs have had the Sixers’ number this season, but you feel a lot better about a 4/5 matchup against them with healthy Embiid out there, vs. a 3/6 with the Knicks or a 2/7 against Boston.

Of course, the next injury could be right around the corner, but the bottom line is that the Sixers came out of this crap period in really good shape.

You son of a bitch! I’m in.