Drama filled contest in Toronto

The big news that came out yesterday was that Matisse Thybulle was ineligible to play in Toronto tonight. After months of rumors that the Sixers had a player who wasn't fully vaccinated on their roster, we now have our answer.

I wrote an FAQ last night on how Thybulle could have gotten this far unvaccinated without missing any basketball. You can read that here. I'll also include the full text of the article below, so if you haven't read the article yet, you can just scroll down and read it at the bottom of this email.

That is, obviously, important for tonight's game against the Raptors. But it's far more important if these two teams meet in the first round, which is a distinct possibility since right now the Sixers are the 4th seed and the Raptors the 5th.

Tonight will be a big night in determining the Eastern Conference playoff race. In addition to the Sixers (49-30, tied 3rd) vs Raptors (46-33, 5th) game, the Celtics (50-30, 2nd) play the Bucks (49-30, tied 3rd). If the Celtics win and the Sixers lose, Boston will clinch the Atlantic Division, and it will also guarantee that the Sixers lose all tiebreaker scenarios (Sixers vs Bucks, Sixers vs Celtics, and a three-team tie).

Also, Rich and I recorded a new Sixers Beat pod last night, so it should be in your feeds shortly. You can get the links to subscribe here.

In today's newsletter:

• Overview of tonight's game against the Raptors
• Yesterday's FAQ on the Matisse Thybulle situation.