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Six takeaways on 2023-24 Sixers schedule

noah levick
·3 min read

Six takeaways on 2023-24 Sixers schedule originally appeared on NBC Sports Philadelphia

The 2023-24 Sixers schedule has officially arrived.

Beyond the basics — 41 games at home and 41 on the road, to no one's surprise — here are six takeaways:

Circle Oct. 28 

After playing the Bucks last year in their home opener, the Sixers will start their 2023-24 campaign by visiting Milwaukee on Oct. 26. That’s clearly a tough task on paper against an opponent that won 58 games in the 2022-23 season.

The Sixers’ second game will be head coach Nick Nurse’s first against his former team. He’ll face his replacement in Toronto, Darko Rajaković.

The Raptors and Sixers met on the identical date of Oct. 28 last season at Scotiabank Arena in a memorable game. With the Sixers 1-4 and their transition defense terribly scuffling, Tyrese Maxey nailed a career-high nine three-pointers and scored a career-best 44 points to lead the team to victory.

How sweet will home be early?

Following the team's two away games to start the season, the Sixers have eight of their next nine at home.

If James Harden-related drama persists past training camp, perhaps that stretch will provide some useful stability for a team that went 29-12 at Wells Fargo Center last year.

Among those eight games are the Sixers’ home opener vs. the Trail Blazers on Oct. 29, a meeting with the star-centric Suns on Nov. 4, and two Wednesday trips by the Celtics to Philadelphia (Nov. 8 and Nov. 15).

The back-to-back picture

The Sixers have 14 back-to-backs overall, which is one higher than in 2022-23.

Eight end on the road — three home-road back-to-backs and five road-road sets. The Sixers’ most back-to-backs in any month is four in January.

Late in the season, the team’s back-to-back burden doesn’t appear severe. Fatigue should be a non-factor for the Sixers’ back-to-back immediately after the All-Star break — home games vs. the Knicks on Feb. 22 and Cavs on Feb. 23. They have three more back-to-backs after that, including a Sunday afternoon game against the Clippers (March 24) followed by a Monday night matchup against the Kings (March 25) to wrap up a West Coast trip.

Pre-Christmas opportunity

The Sixers capped an eight-game winning streak last season by beating the Knicks on Christmas at Madison Square Garden.

It wouldn’t be surprising if they again head into Christmas with considerable momentum. After the in-season tournament and before their Christmas meeting with the Heat, the Sixers will play Washington, Detroit (twice), Charlotte, Chicago, Minnesota and Toronto.

Out of those teams, the Timberwolves’ 42-40 record was the best in 2022-23.

The Embiid-Jokić matchups

Both Sixers-Nuggets games this season will come in January — Jan. 16 in Philadelphia and Jan. 27 in Denver.

Health permitting, those matchups will of course feature reigning MVP Joel Embiid against reigning Finals MVP Nikola Jokić and the defending champion Nuggets.

Embiid’s 47-point, 18-rebound day vs. Denver was special late last January. Whatever the MVP race looks like this season, Sixers-Nuggets sounds very promising from an entertainment standpoint.

Another road-heavy March

Just like last year, the Sixers will play their most road games and most total games in March.

For the 2022-23 season, the team had 17 total March contests, 12 away from home. The Sixers this year have the same number of total March games and one fewer on the road.

March of 2023 ended up being a great month for the Sixers. They blew the Heat out on March 1, extinguished the Bucks’ 16-game winning streak, put together an eight-game run of their own and finished the month 12-5.

This time around, the final week and a half of March seems especially challenging. After hosting the Heat on March 18, six of the Sixers’ last seven March games are on the road.