The regular season is less than 2 weeks away and I am absolutely amped for any and all things NBA. For this article, I’m going to take a look at the important games on the Sixers schedule, well maybe not all of them are important for them as a team as opposed to individual matchups. Let’s check it out:
- Opening Night Tuesday October 16 @ Boston: A number of reasons to be excited for this one. Let’s start with the obvious, this is the first regular season NBA action for any teams this season, that alone is enough to make it a must watch. Philly is still bitter over the ending of their season last year, where they got bumped out by Boston in 5 games in the ECS. Boston will be out to make an Eastern Conference statement early and put away one of their top foes. Add in the history between the two teams, the rivalries and a first appearance for the new Markelle Fultz and Gordon Hayward’s Boston debut and you really have an awesome game.
- Thursday October 18 Home vs. Chicago: I don’t expect the Bulls to compete for anything this year but the home opener has to be on the list.
- Tuesday October 30 @ Toronto: Sixers first out of 4 games against the new look Raptors with Kawhi. Will be somewhat of a measuring stick for each team and a possible early season playoff preview.
- Monday November 12 @ Miami: The Philly-Miami series was an absolute bloodbath last year as Miami tried to muck it up due to their lack of talent. Philly won the series in 5 games but there is still some serious bad blood between the teams. The visceral hatred between Embiid and Whiteside is also real, not a fake beef. Love it.
- Christmas Day @ Boston: See #1 for most of this, but a Christmas day matchup between Boston and Philly will be fun. What I like about the 4 Boston-Philly matchups this year is that they put them all at different stages of the year. We will get to see them play just about every month and half which works out perfectly to judge where each team is at in the season. Something special about a good rivalry on Xmas day.
- Thursday December 27 @ Utah: Ben Simmons vs Donovan Mitchell. That’s pretty much all I need to say. But wait, there’s more! Embiid vs Gobert. Should be a fun evening in the hostile environment where fans feel they were screwed from a ROY award.
- Tuesday January 15 Home vs Minnesota: Embiid vs KAT should get animated quickly.
- Saturday January 19th Home vs OKC: Embiid has friendly or real rivalries with almost every big man in the league. However, this matchup is unique because the Embiid Westbrook rivalry was one of the most fun in the league last year. Embiid came out and slammed hard on Westbrook in OKC, but Westbrook got the last laugh as he literally waved Embiid off the court. Their matchup in Philly last year was a 3 OT slugfest that was amazing to watch. I don’t know how these two came to hate each other but I can’t wait to see it again.
- Tuesday January 29th and Thursday January 30th @ LA and @GS: A little West Coast swing for the 76ers has them going up against the leagues best player and the leagues best team in back to back games. Embiid had the best performance of his career last year in LA to the tune of 46 points. The team was up almost 30 points on Golden State in Philly last year before losing by…20. Should be a fun matchup with star power all over the place.
- Feb 18 and March 20: The teams two home matchups with Boston. As previously noted, it’s nice how they staggered the Boston games. While the early season matchups are prime nights, these will still be prime games and potential playoff previews late in the year.
- Thursday April 4 Home vs Milwaukee: The last of the matchups between these two teams comes late in the season. Potential playoff seeding on the line as well as potential playoff matchup.
There’s plenty more quality games littered across their schedule, but these are absolutely some of the highlights from what should be a very entertaining season. I’m sure as the season progresses and Embiid unleashes fury, maybe on say Mo Bamba, there will be a few more must watch games added to this list, but for now, those are the ones that every fan should have their eyes on.
By Peter Gumas
1204 Sports 