Sixers 2020-21 Schedule: Everything You Need To Know
Here we go again.
Adam Aaronson, whose legal name is Sixers Adam (@SixersAdam on Twitter), covers the Sixers for The Rights To Ricky Sanchez. He has been legally banned from covering the team in person, and when that ban was set to be lifted, Covid-19 struck. He believes cantaloupe is the best food in existence, and is brought to you by the Official Realtor of The Process, Adam Ksebe.
Folks, today is one of my favorite days of the year: the release of the NBA schedule (I’m realizing how sad this is as I type). However, this year’s schedule rollout is much different than usual: for now, all we have is the first half of the schedule, with the cutoff being March 4, 2021 for the All-Star Break.
The season was already shrunk from 82 games to 72 games, and we only got 37 of those 72 today. But we shall persist!
I have never attempted to write an immediate story about only the partial release of a schedule. The one thing I can say for sure is that this is not nearly as circumstantial as we would like for it to be. For the most part, everyone has the same schedules, with very few deviancies.
HOWEVER... here is everything you might want to know about this year’s first-half Sixers schedule (here is the full schedule):
Regular season series
The NBA is attempting to use MLB-like series to speed up the season and limit travel. One series the Sixers host is on January 20 and 22 against the Boston Celtics, with both games on ESPN.
The Sixers’ series are as follows: January 2 and 4 vs. Charlotte, January 12 and 14 vs. Miami, January 20 and 22 vs. Celtics, January 23 and 25 @ Pistons, and February 21 and 23 @ Toronto (in Tampa Bay!).
National TV numbers
The Sixers play 14 of the 37 announced games on national television. Five will be on ESPN, another five can be seen on NBA TV and four come on TNT.
Best nationally-televised games
While there will be no Christmas basketball in Philadelphia this year, they have several games worth looking forward to seeing in primetime.
On January 7th, the Sixers take their first crack at the new-look Brooklyn Nets featuring Kyrie Irving and Kevin Durant, taking place in Brooklyn and being televised on TNT.
In a battle of the best centers in the NBA, Embiid and the Sixers will take on Nikola Jokic’s Denver Nuggets on NBA TV in a Saturday matinee on January 9.
January 27th is when the Sixers will host the defending champion LA Lakers. Can you say Danny Green + Dwight Howard Revenge Game?!
February 17th will mark the first time in over a decade that Daryl Morey roots against the Houston Rockets. The Sixers host Houston on ESPN.
Reunited and it feels so good
Even though we have no idea when fans will and won’t be allowed in arenas, everyone loves a return. Some are heartwarming while others are... definitely not that.
With the aforementioned New Year’s Eve battle between the Sixers and Magic scheduled, we now know when Markelle Fultz will turn back into an elite shooter in front of our eyes.
Jimmy Butler and the Eastern Conference champion Miami Heat pay the Sixers a visit twice in three days on January 12th and 14th (the latter of which on TNT), in what will be Butler's first chance to flex his post-Finals muscles against the team that let him walk.
Al Horford should be glad his first matchup against the Sixers is not in Philadelphia, as the Thunder and Sixers face off on January 17 in OKC.
For the second time in his career, Robert Covington faces the Sixers as an opponent when he and the Portland Trail Blazers visit the Sixers on February 4.
Coming off a well-deserved pay, The Homie Dario Saric and an exciting Phoenix Suns team will host the Sixers on February 13. This will be the second time Saric plays in Philly as a visitor.
On February 25th, Josh Richardson returns to Philly after a turbulent one-year tenure with the Sixers. He and Luka Doncic come to town in what will be a fascinating matchup on TNT.
And, to finish this on a positive note, we get to check in with our old friend TJ McConnell on January 31 in Indianapolis, with the Pacers visiting Philly in the second to last game of the first half, on March 1 in Philly.
Some fun non-national TV games
Not every great game is played under the brightest of lights. Here are a few other games I am particularly excited about:
On January 29th, we get a matchup more than a year in the making: Embiid vs. Karl-Anthony Towns in Minnesota.
To cap off the first half of their schedule, the Sixers host Donovan Mitchell, Rudy Gobert and the Utah Jazz on March 3.
A quick reminder that this is much more interesting than important
Of course I, as the ultimate basketball nerd, eats this kind of stuff up. We all enjoy a schedule release. But do not conflate fascination with actual value. All this tells us is the order in which the Sixers play an exact group of teams that over a dozen other teams will face.
With all of that being said, it really just is fun as hell.
