Maxey-mum mayhem: Sixers win rock fight with Magic, punch playoff ticket to Boston

PHILADELPHIA -- Physicality was the word of the week after the Sixers found out they would be playing the Orlando Magic in the Play-In game with a chance to secure the seventh seed in the playoffs. 

Sixers guards, forwards and coaches mentioned daily the toughness the Magic impose on teams. 

And when it was over, sighs of relief were undoubtedly followed with ice packs and cool down buckets to start to heal some of the bumps and bruises.

But it's easier to recover after a win, and that's just what the Sixers got on Wednesday in a 109-97 slugfest that secured them the seventh seed and promoted them to a first round playoff meeting with the Celtics beginning at 1 p.m. on Sunday in Boston. Game 2 will be at 7 on Tuesday in Boston before the series moves to Philadelphia with games on Friday, April 24 at 7 and Sunday, April 26 at 7.

Tyrese Maxey overcame a violent night of coverage from the Magic to score 31 points. VJ Edgecombe added 19 points and 11 rebounds in his first postseason game, while Kelly Oubre Jr. had 19 with five 3-pointers and Paul George scored 16.

Next up is Tyrese Maxey, who led the Sixers with 31 points... with a LOT of them coming off impressive shot creation and some difficult finishes through contact.

31 PTS (11-25 FG, 3-9 3PT), 2 REB, 6 AST, 1 STL, 1 BLK

Here are all of Maxey's FG from the win! ⬇️ pic.twitter.com/wMLWBQUjCI

— Erin Grugan (@eringrugan) April 16, 2026

Orlando pulled to within 87-86 on an Anthony Black three pointer with 7:56 to go in the game. That's when Maxey decided put an end to the drama. He scored the Sixers next seven points on a floater, a step-back three and another floater to give the team an eight-point lead and all the breathing room they would need.

"We definitely wanted to win tonight," said Maxey. "We wanted to win in front of our home crowd and get as much rest as we possibly can. It was just me deciding that I wanted to be aggressive. I had some really good looks that I missed early in the third that I made in the first half. So I was just really confident that I was going to make some shots. It feels great, I ain't going to lie. It doesn't matter how we get in there, I just wanted to get in. I promised some guys that we were going to get into the playoffs."

Maxey proceeded to mention veteran Kyle Lowry and a preseason conversation they had and all the first-time playoff participants that litter the roster as to where the promises went.

The first half played out exactly the way most envisioned, with suffocating defense, constant contact and a difficulty for both teams to find open shots. Twenty six total fouls were called, rarely did the action go more than one possession without a stoppage and there was really no advantage gained by either team that appeared to be a deciding factor as the Sixers built a 59-55 lead.

Orlando guards Desmond Bane — who is built like a middle linebacker — and Jalen Suggs were in Maxey's chest for most of the first 24 minutes, but the Sixers' All-Star was able to spring free for a team-high 16 points at the break. Oubre drained three three-pointers on his way to 11, and George also toughed his way to 11.

As much as the Orlando physicality stalled the Sixers offense at times, it propelled them at the offensive end, particularly Bane, who slashed and banged and had 19 of his team-high 34 at the break, with eight of them coming from the foul line. But ultimately, Maxey was having none of it and made sure that playoff basketball was in the Sixers' immediate future.

"He's been doing a bit of that lately as far as understanding we need his greatness at the right time," said coach Nick Nurse of Maxey. "It wasn't easy. They were putting a lot of people in his way, so I thought he was really patient with when he decided to get downhill and the decisions that he made late."

George and Edgecombe were particularly stingy at the defensive end, staunchly stopping dribble drives, continuously getting hands in passing lanes and forcing more than a few off-balanced shots by the Magic.

"He was flying in for rebounds, he was guarding really hard and I think that's a good one to get under his belt," said Nurse of Edgecombe. "That's the thing about him, he's going to impact the game maybe when he's not playing greatest offense in the world. But he still impacted the game in a big way."

Without the services of Joel Embiid, the Sixers have to get contributions from fill-ins Andre Drummond (14 points, 10 rebounds, three steals and three blocks) and Adem Bona, and Wednesday both were quite efficient. Despite coming off the bench, Drummond was big in the first quarter with four points, four rebounds and a wonderful feed to a cutting Dominick Barlow for a back cut dunk. Bona had two big blocks in the third quarter, one where he came down horizontally to the ground. 

"We're used to it," said Drummond of he and Bona's roles without Embiid. "Obviously we want him to play, but that's out of our hands. Adem, myself, Dom, have taken it upon ourselves to be ready and prepared. We've done a great job."

The coach agreed.

"We're going to play both those guys (Drummond and Bona), and I thought Drum was really outstanding in the first half and I thought Bona really sparked us in the third," said Nurse. "He looked like Bona that we know. I think he had three blocks in a pretty short span. He was able to give us a stretch of some different defensive schemes and that was kind of just in and out with both of them just based on I thought they were both playing well and just trying to keep them as fresh as we could. That was as good as they've handled that position for some time." 

Now comes an even tougher test starting this weekend in Boston.