Enormous Consequences: Knicks And Sixers Looking For Momentum

Apr 17, 2012, 4:01 PM UTC

Enormous Consequences is a daily look at the most impactful games in the NBA’s playoff races.

The NBA playoff picture didn't get any clearer following the eleven games that happened on Monday night, aside from the Portland Trail Blazers being officially eliminated, but maybe things will get a little bit clearer with the five games scheduled to take place on Tuesday.

Or, more likely, things will continue to be muddied until the final day of the season when proverbial hell breaks loose.

The only real games with enormous consequences for the loser happening on Tuesday evening will take place in the Eastern Conference, otherwise known as the less-ugly one when looking at playoff implications heading down the stretch. The Philadelphia 76ers desperately need a win against the Indiana Pacers at 7 p.m. on NBA League Pass.

The Sixers suffered a bad loss to the Orlando Magic on Monday night and, because of that, they find themselves on the wrong side of a seventh-place tiebreaker with the New York Knicks in the East. The good thing is that there are eight playoff spots allotted to each conference so Philly isn't in a do-or-die position quite yet, but another loss would allow the idle Milwaukee Bucks to creep closer to a spot in the playoffs.

New York isn't off the hook, though, as they face the Boston Celtics on Tuesday night with similar consequences if they happen to lose. The Knicks hold the tiebreaker over the Sixers, but a Philadelphia win combined with a New York loss would put Mike Woodson's team right back where they don't want to be -- at the bottom of the playoff standings with a first-round matchup against the Chicago Bulls in their future ... provided the Bucks don't overtake them, that is.

The only other game on Tuesday night worth watching will be between the San Antonio Spurs and Los Angeles Lakers. There aren't any enormous consequences for the losing team considering both are in the playoffs, but it should be a fun game to tune in to -- even without Kobe Bryant in the Lakers lineup.