Forget about April Fools posts, it’s kind of a big day for Philadelphia sports. The surprisingly competent 76ers take on the New Jersey Nets tonight at 7PM and can clinch a playoff spot with a win. A Charlotte loss gets them in as well and while I’m not expecting much in the postseason, this team did beat San Antonio, Chicago and Boston this season. They were even able to hang with Miami until the Heat decided they wanted to win that game. That’s just the tip of the Philly Sports iceberg though.

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I’m absolutely a fan of the Philadelphia 76ers, but at a time when a team needs (at least) three legit All Stars to have a realistic shot at a championship it’s hard to get excited about them. A month ago, they were sitting as the number seven playoff seed in the NBA East with a losing record. As bad as that is, there was a still a team with an even worse record going to the playoffs at number eight. It was a sad commentary on the state of the East.

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I had a lot of fun following the Cleveland Cavaliers epic 26 game losing streak that ended Friday night (Thanks, Clippers) and I should have written more about it after the negative attention I gave the New Jersey Nets last season. The Cavs beat their own previous record of 24 straight losses spanning the 1981-82 and 1982-83 seasons and tied the Tampa Bay Buccaneers for the longest (read as “worst”) losing streak of all time across the four major US sporting leagues.

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I spent some time this season criticizing the performance of the NBA’s New Jersey Nets. I was told I owed them an apology, but I’m not sure that’s entirely true.

The Nets were terrible this year. They broke the all time loss record to start a season at 0-18, and were on pace to break the Philadelphia 76ers all-time worst season record of 9-73. They avoided that particular distinction by winning 12 and losing only 70. This is bad, but really is it any different from the Sixers miserable record of 27-55 this year? I don’t think so, both teams lost a lot and their seasons ended right along with everyone else that didn’t make the playoffs.

Considering the way the NBA Draft Lottery works, there was some cynical speculation that the Nets may have aimed for the worst record in the league (but not the worst of all time) in order to pick first. I don’t believe this is the case. I don’t want to think any team would ever really try for this by tanking the entire season. Regardless, that’s not what happened as The Nets will pick 3rd in the Draft. Ironically, the Sixers will choose 2nd just behind the Washington Wizards on June 24th.

What has been a depressing NBA season is winding down, and tonight at 7PM the Sixers face the New Jersey Nets for the final time.  I just received an e-mail from the Sixers (yes, I’m still willing to be on their mailing list. I also get a text after every game which normally begins “Sixers fall to…”) with the message “SIXERS LOOK TO NUDGE NJ TOWARDS INFAMY” as the lowly Nets could still finish with fewer wins than the 1972-73 Sixers and their 9-73 record.

Regardless of the outcome tonight, I just don’t think the Nets will set the record. They’ve been on fire since the All-Star break with 3 wins in 15 games, and with 15 left to play I don’t see how they only come away with one victory. Especially considering they’re facing teams with 23-44 records like the Sixers, and only five of the remaining teams they face have winning records.

On the season, the Nets are on pace to win 8.5 with a current overall record of 7-60. So mathematically it could still happen. I’ll keep my fingers crossed. If nothing else, the Nets’ run at infamy has given me something to follow during a miserable Sixers season.