Sixers Should Beat the Grizzlies Tonight

Mildly misleading title -- the Sixers play the Memphis Grizzlies tonight, and we should want the Philadelphia 76ers to actually win this basketball game. That's not something I've personally done since the 82-0 hopes came to an end after the perfect start was lost.

There are just four games left in the season, and as I wrote yesterday, the Milwaukee Bucks have a 3-game stranglehold on the top spot. The Sixers were just too good this season, and they're all but solidified into the second seed of tanking hierarchy. So we can root for the gang to win some games, which is cool.

But also, Sam Hinkie owns the Grizzlies second round pick. And with Memphis right on the fringe of the Western Conference playoff hunt (at 46-32, ridiculous), that's a mighty fine reason for the Sixers to win this game. As it stands, they would relinquish the 44th pick in the draft, and are two games back of Dallas in the win column. If they slip into the playoffs, they would drop at least 4 spots in the draft, possibly as many as 6 (I'm like 97% sure the NBA second round doesn't re-seed but I cannot find a concrete answer on the web, so I'm going with popular opinion of my basketball brethren) -- Toronto and Chicago are also 46-32 at the moment.

If you think 4-6 spots in the second round doesn't matter, then you don't know Hinkie.

So let's win. For the second round pick! Adonis Thomas Time.

(love nick calathes tho)