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Wizards, Sixers battle for seeding in the East

Apr 12, 2008 - 1:40 PM Philadelphia (40-39) at Washington (41-38) 7:00 pm EDT

WASHINGTON (Ticker) - Both the Washington Wizards and Philadelphia 76ers have already clinched a postseason berth. Who they will play remains to be seen.

Continuing to battle for better playoff position, the Wizards host the Sixers on Saturday.

Washington hopes to bounce back after getting torched in Friday's 102-74 setback to the Detroit Pistons, who held the trio of Antawn Jamison, Caron Butler and Gilbert Arenas to 31 points combined.

The 76ers also came up short on Friday, dropping an 85-76 loss to Indiana Pacers. Andre Miller scored 23 points and rookie Thaddeus Young added 21 in a losing effort.

"It's tough for us as far as getting the best possible seed," 76ers guard Willie Green said. "Games like this are games we could have won, should have won, but you have to give credit to the Pacers. They hit big shot after big shot. Give a lot of credit to them. We have to go back to the drawing board and correct some things."

The losses kept both clubs behind LeBron James and the fourth-place Cleveland Cavaliers (43-36) for home-court advantage in the first round in the East playoffs. Washington trails by two games and the 76ers sit three back.

Andray Blatche had 26 points off the bench for the Wizards in a 116-101 triumph over the Sixers in the last matchup here back on November 20.