Ben Simmons had a triple-double to lead the Philadelphia 76ers to a 108-94 win over the Charlotte Hornets on Monday night.
Simmons had 11 points, 12 rebounds and 15 assists to help the Sixers keep alive their shot at finishing fourth in the Eastern Conference and earning home-court advantage in the first round of the playoffs.
The 76ers have one of the easiest schedules of any team the rest of the season.
They will have to pass Washington and Indiana to grab the No. 4 seed and stave off a potential Toronto or Boston match-up for at least a round.
"Our goal is to make the playoffs," coach Brett Brown said.
"Now, seemingly, we are pretty close to doing that. Now we all get greedy and say, 'let's get a home court.'
"And I'm the captain of that new club. And it can only happen if we guard. And that's the message to our team."
The Hornets missed 17 of 21 shots in the third (1 of 5 on 3s) to crush their chances of stretching a seven-point half-time lead.
"Nothing matters unless we play defense," Brown said. "It's how we set the tone in this program since the day I arrived."
The 76ers have had countless dark days since Brown arrived in 2013.
But they are the favourites in the majority of their games nowadays and have become the team that now has to worry about playing down to the level of their competition.
LeBron James recorded his 16th triple-double of the season in the Cleveland Cavaliers' 124-117 victory over the Milwaukee Bucks.
James scored 40 points on 16 of 29 shooting and added 12 rebounds with 10 assists.
Myles Turner scored 21 points and Victor Oladipo added 20 to power the Indiana Pacers to a 110-100 victory over the Los Angeles Lakers at Bankers Life Fieldhouse in Indianapolis.