This Week In Philly Sports: Fans Coming Back, Sixers Go For No. 1

PHILADELPHIA, PA — The last week saw the pandemic continue to abate, leading to good news on the fan capacity front in South Philadelphia.

The Phillies sit in second place, a game and half behind the Mets, while the Sixers remain in first and continue their push to the postseason atop the Eastern Conference.

Here's the latest from around the local sports scene:

Phillies dominance over Nationals continues at Citizens Bank Park South

The Phillies took two out of three games from the Nationals in a series in Washington D.C. this week. It's the latest in a string of decisive victories over the 2019 World Series champs, who currently sit in last place in the National League East.

Late last summer the Nationals — the franchise that once disallowed Philadelphia zip codes from buying tickets online, because they couldn't fill their stands with their own fans — started a bit of trash talking.

Since then, things haven't gone well for the former Montreal club.

Local Flyers fan, teacher, wins school district $20,000

Teachers from across North America competed in a National Hockey League competition to win their school district $20,000.

Tens of thousands of votes and 60 finalists winnowed down later, the results are in: Norristown Area School District's Donald Conaway Jr. is the champion.

The Flyers and SAP are contributing the grant, which Conaway will use to help build a STEM lab for his middle schoolers at Eisenhower Science and Technology Leadership Academy.

Sixers on verge of clinching number one seed

The top seed in the Eastern Conference is within the hands of the Philadelphia 76ers as they approach the final weekend of the regular season.

With just two games left to play, as of Friday night, the Sixers have a one game lead over the Brooklyn Nets.

If the Sixers win either of their final two games against the next to last place Orlando Magic, they'll clinch the top spot.

It may not matter much in the opening rounds, but having home court advantage could prove a decisive factor should the Sixers find themselves in a heated seven game Conference Final matchup with Brooklyn or the Milwaukee Bucks.

Full capacity around the corner

Summer days of yore, of a full Citizens Bank Park with a bustling promenade and the roar of a crowd of tens of thousands that can be heard for miles, are just around the corner.

The Phillies announced this week that they will welcome their full capacity of 43,035, starting when the New York Yankees come to town on June 12.

Additionally, a small number of socially distant seating pods will be available for fans who want to isolate.

This Week in Philly Sports is a weekly dispatch covering the wildest, the weirdest, and the greatest sports city in America. Have something you'd like to see here? Email justin.heinze@patch.com.