The 76ers are closing in on the New Orleans Pelicans. Lonnie Walker IV is playing like he wants to stay in the NBA. And Adem Bona’s athleticism has been on full display in the games featuring makeshift rosters. Those three things became obvious after the Sixers’ 127-109 loss to the Toronto Raptors.

Eyeing the Pelicans

The Sixers (23-52) are two games behind the Pelicans (21-54) for the league’s fourth-worst record with seven games remaining.

Based on the teams’ remaining strength of schedules, Philly might have a tough time catching them. The Sixers have the ninth-easiest remaining schedule, while New Orleans has the seventh. If both teams finish with identical records, the 76ers would finish lower in the standings due to losing both head-to-head meetings.

Walker came to play

Walker played six NBA seasons before signing with a team in the Lithuania in October. Walker came back to the league upon signing with the Sixers on Feb. 21. On Sunday, he looked like someone who doesn’t want to return to Europe.

The shooting guard had one of his best games in Philly, scoring 23 points on 10-for-18 shooting to go with a game-high seven assists and three rebounds.

Bona’s playground

Some will point out that the competitive level in the Sixers’ recent games have been substandard. Perhaps that’s true. But Bona has been fun to watch while running the floor and blocking shots.

The rookie center finished with 14 points on 5-for-7 shooting to go with eight rebounds and a season-high-tying five blocks. This comes one night after he had 16 points, 10 rebounds and three blocks in a loss to the Miami Heat.

The 76ers are still focused on getting Justin Edwards and other young players heavy minutes. Jared Butler is finding his groove while being patient. And the Adem Bona is exciting to watch, regardless of the competition. Those three things stood out Saturday in the Sixers’ 118-95 loss to the Miami Heat.

Player development

Justin Edwards finished with 17 points and made 4 of 6 three-pointers while logging a game-high 35 minutes, 28 seconds against the Heat. One can expect him to continue to play a lot of minutes in the remaining eight games.

“You’ve got to at least develop and build some of these young guys as much as you possibly can,” coach Nick Nurse said. “Ricky Council. More looks at Lonnie [Walker IV] now that he’s back. You keep seeing what Quentin [Grimes] has got. You know that whole list needs to keep fighting and playing."

Elevated performance

Jared Butler finished with 19 points on 7-for-12 shooting, including making all four of his three-pointers. He’s made 11 of 18 threes over his last three games. This comes after he shot 39.6% during his first 17 games with the Sixers.

“I just shoot,” the point guard said of what caused his improvement. “It’s so funny, like, playing basketball for however many years I’ve been able to shoot the ball. So like a lot of the time it’s just getting time and giving patience, but I’m glad it’s falling, knocking down, and just keep going for it.”

Mr. Excitement

Adem Bona finished with 16 points on 8-for-9 shooting to go with 10 rebounds and three blocks. His three blocks upped his season total to 48 and he became the only rookie to have at least 45 blocks in less than 1,000 minutes played.

“Bam [Adebayo] is one of the players I really liked when I was in high school. To be able to play against him and have a good game, I think that’s really, really good. I’m tired, it doesn’t sound like I’m excited, but I’m pretty excited about that. It’s really huge to also start, get my start at home, it’s huge too.”