There’s one big reason why the fans (and front offices) of both the Sixers and Heat won’t want to win tonight’s game: Miami’s first-round draft pick.
No matter tonight’s outcome, the fate of the pick will not be totally sealed. Miami is locked into finishing 10th or 11th from the bottom. Period. Nothing can change that. And the lottery has many tricks up its sleeve. But here’s what it comes down to: If the Heat finish with the 10th worst record, the Sixers have a 9.1% of lucking into their (the Heat’s) top-10 protected lottery pick. If the Heat finish 11th, those odds jump to 97.1%, and it’s up to the lottery to screw the Sixers over.
So why would both teams want to lose? If the Heat lose …
If the Sixers lose and …
So let’s go Sixers… but also also the Heat and the Magic and the Knicks. The association!