The Philadelphia 76ers now know their opponent in the first round of the NBA playoffs. The Brooklyn Nets will finish in sixth place in the Eastern Conference and earn the sixth seed. They claimed the final guaranteed playoff spot in the East when the Miami Heat fell to the Washington Wizards.
The Heat, after they defeated the Sixers rather easily on Thursday, rested Jimmy Butler, Bam Adebayo, Tyler Herro, Kevin Love and Kyle Lowry for this matchup with the Wizards and lost 114-108. The loss locked the Heat into the play-in tournament.
The Nets are leading the Orlando Magic by a wide margin so even if the Heat did defeat the Wizards, Brooklyn was on pace to clinch the final spot by itself anyway.
The Heat fall to the Wizards 114-108. The 6 seed officially belongs to the Brooklyn Nets. The #Sixers will face the Nets in Round 1 of the playoffs.
— Ky Carlin (@Ky_Carlin) April 8, 2023
The Sixers and the Nets will play in the season finale on Sunday at the Barclays Center in a meaningless contest. It will be tough to envision either team playing any of their regulars.
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