Sixers vs. Pacers takeaways: Tank is real for team with fifth-best lottery odds

The Sixers, once again, are tied for the fifth-best odds to win the NBA draft lottery. Jeff Dowtin Jr. is taking advantage of the opportunity to play extended minutes. And the Sixers’ tank is real. Those three things were revealed after Friday’s 112-100 loss to the Indiana Pacers at the Wells Fargo Center.

Fifth-best odds

The loss dropped the Sixers to 22-44 and into a tie with the Brooklyn Nets with the league’s fifth-worst record with 16 games remaining. Philly will have a 63.9% chance of winning the first pick by remaining in that spot at season’s end.

The Sixers are 4 ½ losses behind the New Orleans Pelicans, who have the fourth-worst record. They’ll have an 81% chance of winning the lottery by finishing in that spot.

Dowtin shining

Dowtin scored a career-high 24 points on 11-for-20 shooting while playing a season-high 40 minutes, 6 seconds. This comes one game after setting his previous career high of 20 points against the Toronto Raptors on Wednesday.

The two-way point guard is averaging 20.3 points while making 7 of 15 three-pointers (60.5%) during his last three games. The 27-year-old averaged 5.0 points in his 33 appearances prior to Friday.

Tank is real

The Sixers can’t deny they’re tanking to keep their top-six protected first-round pick. They only had eight players against the Pacers (37-28). Quentin Grimes, Kelly Oubre Jr., and Andre Drummond were scratched hours before the game.

Paul George, Kyle Lowry, Tyrese Maxey, and Lonnie Walker IV were all ruled on Thursday. And Joel Embiid, Eric Gordon, and Jared McCain have been shut down for the season.