Sixers pull a game ahead of Nets for NBA's fifth-worst record following loss to Raptors

Keith Pompey, The Philadelphia Inquirer on Mar 30, 2025

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PHILADELPHIA — For either the 14th or 15th consecutive game, depending on your reconciliation, the 76ers have fielded a makeshift roster built to lose.

The latest quest ended Sunday night with a much-needed 127-109 loss to the Toronto Raptors at the Wells Fargo Center.

The setback dropped the Sixers to 23-52, extending their losing streak to eight games. It also marked their 25th loss in 29 games. But most importantly, they’re a game ahead of the Brooklyn Nets for the league’s fifth-worst record with seven games remaining.

On this night, the Sixers unveiled an NBA-record tying 51st starting lineup of Justin Edwards, Ricky Council IV, Adem Bona, Lonnie Walker IV and Jared Butler.

The team only had nine available players. Those players included two-way players Jalen Hood-Schifino and Alex Reese along with 10-day contract players Marcus Bagley and Phillip Wheeler.

In addition to having a roster built to lose, the Sixers have been focused on player development.

They want to continue to play Edwards as many minutes as possible. The Sixers also want to see Council take advantage of his athleticism while rebounding. They want to get more looks at the Walker now that he’s back from a concussion. And they want to see Butler shoot the ball and run an offense.

“You know that whole list needs to keep fighting and playing,” coach Nick Nurse said. “And [the coaches] got to keep trying to make them better.”

In addition, the Sixers want to help players use these opportunities to impress them and teams around the league.

“Again, just trying to get them to give great effort, play basketball the right way, compete,” Nurse said, “all those kinds of things.”

And several of the Sixers did that during the loss.

Walker paced his team with 23 points and seven assists. Hood-Schifino had 19 points and five assists off the bench. Council finished 17 points and a career-high 11 rebounds. Butler finished with 15 points, six assists and two steals. Bona added 14 points, eight rebounds and a game-high five blocks, while Edwards had 12 points, seven rebounds and four assists.

Toronto’s R.J. Barrett finished with a game-high 31 points in just 28 minutes, 31 seconds of action.

The Raptors (28-47), who are 4 1/2 games ahead of the Sixers, are essentially locked into finishing with the league’s seventh-worst record. But like their opponent, the final stretch of the season is all about player development and building confidence.

By beating the Sixers, they pulled off a bottom-feeder sweep with victories also over the league’s second-worst Washington Wizards, sixth-worst Nets (24-51) and third-worst Charlotte Hornets.

“We are focussing on things that are controllable,” Raptors coach Darko Rajaković said. “We are focussing on the work that we put in. We are focussing on staying positive and upbeat with the players, trusting our work, trusting our vision, and just sticking with it through good moments and bad moments.”

Toronto is building a foundation in this first year of rebuilding. So like the Sixers, they are trying to find out which young guys can be a part of the team moving forward.

On Sunday, they rested Immanuel Quickley and Jakob Poeltl. Meanwhile, Ulrich Chomche (partial proximal MCL tear in right knee), Gradey Dick (right knee bone bruise), Brandon Ingram (sprained left ankle) and Jared Rhoden (sprained fifth MCP joint left hand) were also sidelined.

Up Next

The Sixers will face the New York Knicks on Tuesday in another Atlantic Division game at Madison Square Garden, The Knicks have the Eastern Conference’s third-best record of 47-27 and won this season’s previous three meetings versus the Sixers.