On Saturday evening, the Philadelphia 76ers took a consequential loss with a blowout home defeat at the hands of the Detroit Pistons. The loss delivered a tough blow to the 76ers' chances of securing a coveted top six seed in the Eastern Conference playoff race, and also locked up the number one seed in the conference for the upstart Pistons.
It's certainly possible that the Pistons and 76ers could end up matching up in the first round of the playoffs if Philadelphia continues dropping games during the regular season, and after Saturday's loss, 76ers star Tyrese Maxey got 100% real on whether he might be studying this game tape extra hard in case of that scenario.
“I think you always do that. Especially when you're playing against a playoff team this late in the season, but I think we'll be ready. If we see him again, we'll be ready,” said Maxey, per Ky Carlin of Sixers Wire on X, formerly Twitter.
Maxey had a relatively quiet game in the loss vs the Pistons, scoring 23 points on an efficient shooting night, and also registering just one assist. Philadelphia as a whole was held to just 93 points on the evening, one of its lowest outputs of the season.
With the loss, the 76ers moved back to seventh place in the Eastern Conference, a half game behind the Toronto Raptors for sixth, and a full game above the Charlotte Hornets for eighth, meaning if the season ended today, the Hornets and 76ers would take part in a play-in game for the right to face the Boston Celtics in the first round of the playoffs.
Things don't get any easier from here for the 76ers, as the team will next hit the floor on Monday night for a road game against the San Antonio Spurs.
