Speaker 1: I'm Tari's Mike Si and you're listening to the seventy
Speaker 1: six Ers Insider's podcast.
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Speaker 3: Insiders Schedule Release Edition with Lauren Rosen. I'm Matt Murphy.
Speaker 3: Always a fun time of year when the schedule comes
Speaker 3: out and you can identify the matchups you might be
Speaker 3: looking for or you know everyone is looking for around
Speaker 3: the league. We're going to do a little bit of
Speaker 3: that in a short ish podcast today. We'll talk about
Speaker 3: the Emirates NBA Cup and of course all the key
Speaker 3: dates for the seventy six ers and the prominent league
Speaker 3: wide dates that they are playing on, such as Christmas Day,
Speaker 3: and break down some key opponents and the matchups that
Speaker 3: we are looking forward to. First, Lauren, what do you
Speaker 3: like about this time of year?
Speaker 2: Ooh, I love the ramp up phase.
Speaker 1: Matt Murphy.
Speaker 2: We know that these guys have been in the gym separately,
Speaker 2: right usually in August they start to meet up with
Speaker 2: one another. September they start to meet up in Philly
Speaker 2: training camp preseason, and then we're really off to the races.
Speaker 2: And as soon as the schedule comes out, it does
Speaker 2: all start to feel very real. This schedule feels a
Speaker 2: little different than some of the ones that we had
Speaker 2: in recent seasons, so looking forward to breaking it down with.
Speaker 3: You, notably the one of the West Coast trips that
Speaker 3: will talk about. But let's start with the opening game,
Speaker 3: which also happens to be the home opener for the
Speaker 3: seventy six Ers, which is not always the case. It's
Speaker 3: the inverse location of last season's opening game. It's the
Speaker 3: Milwaukee Bucks coming to Philadelphia for a seven to thirty
Speaker 3: Eastern game on Wednesday, October twenty third. How do you
Speaker 3: remember the opening night last year in Milwaukee with Damian
Speaker 3: Lillard against Tyrese Maxi, And how do you feel about
Speaker 3: it being in Philly this time?
Speaker 2: Well, that's exactly what I was going to say, Matt Murphy.
Speaker 2: Last season at Milwaukee, the Sixers struggled a bit to
Speaker 2: combat that first pairing that anyone had seen of Jannis
Speaker 2: Antetokumpo and Damian Lillard, and it ended up being just
Speaker 2: such an exciting game.
Speaker 1: Down the stretch.
Speaker 2: Loved every minute of that one, and love the opportunity
Speaker 2: for a rematch with the Milwaukee Bucks, who, of course
Speaker 2: may not be the favorite in the East this season,
Speaker 2: but when you think about the firepower on that team,
Speaker 2: let's not forget about Chris Middleton as a third weapon
Speaker 2: that they have in a very serious way, the Milwaukee
Speaker 2: Bucks are not a team that you can count out
Speaker 2: of any season in their current form right, So love
Speaker 2: the opportunity, of course to play on Opening Night against
Speaker 2: another marquee opponent, an opponent that are going to see
Speaker 2: they're going to see one another and duel throughout the season,
Speaker 2: perhaps again in the playoffs. So it's a great way
Speaker 2: to start a story, especially when two of the main
Speaker 2: character teams are going to start it together and might
Speaker 2: ultimately have to end it together.
Speaker 3: That was a one point loss for the Sixers, and
Speaker 3: then they won their next eight games to start the
Speaker 3: twenty twenty three twenty four season, which took them right
Speaker 3: about to the time. We can also talk about the
Speaker 3: preseason schedule as well, because that should be out at
Speaker 3: the time that the full regular season schedule comes out.
Speaker 3: But the Emirates NBA Cup was around the time that
Speaker 3: the Sixers finally lost again at the start of last season,
Speaker 3: and it was the first first year of that soccer
Speaker 3: style in season tournament now dubbed the Emirates NBA Cup,
Speaker 3: and the Sixers teams opponents during the group stage from
Speaker 3: November twelfth through December third will be the Knicks, their
Speaker 3: playoff opponent last year that everyone is looking forward to
Speaker 3: seeing that again, Orlando Magic, Brooklyn Nets, and Charlotte Hornets.
Speaker 3: Those games are on Tuesdays and Fridays, and now we've
Speaker 3: got year two of this NBA Cup.
Speaker 2: It's going to be fabulous, Matt, and listen, I know
Speaker 2: last season people sort of struggled to get fully on board,
Speaker 2: at least fans to get fully on board understanding what
Speaker 2: this event actually is. Of course, you recommend a soccer
Speaker 2: style comparison, looking over at European football, of course, who
Speaker 2: are accustomed to having these in season tournaments. But considering
Speaker 2: that this is only one year in, I think the
Speaker 2: product that they created last year, the playoff in Vegas,
Speaker 2: the separate courts, the alternate courts wearing addition jerseys, it
Speaker 2: was really cool to just watch the way that they
Speaker 2: made sure, even in its infancy, that this would be
Speaker 2: something that looks different from other regular.
Speaker 1: Season NBA games.
Speaker 2: And again, if the goal is to get some excitement
Speaker 2: into the regular season ahead of Christmas, it's the perfect
Speaker 2: way to do it, right when you look at the
Speaker 2: fact that the Emirates NBA Cup quarterfinals, semi finals and
Speaker 2: championship are gonna be played between December tenth and December seventeenth,
Speaker 2: ahead of of course, the Sixers sort of second or
Speaker 2: rather the NBA's second opening night on Christmas Day, which
Speaker 2: we'll talk about in a second.
Speaker 1: A week later.
Speaker 2: Right now, we're really working through the entire season with
Speaker 2: exciting tent pole moments along the way, not starting at
Speaker 2: Christmas and not ending on opening night, right it sort
Speaker 2: of mixes up those first couple months of this season,
Speaker 2: and I love the way it went last year, so
Speaker 2: looking forward to watching it grow.
Speaker 3: Let's talk about Christmas next, but before that, one last
Speaker 3: thing on the Emirates NBA Cup is that no complaining,
Speaker 3: but the six Ers sometimes found themselves last year on
Speaker 3: the second night of a back to back for some
Speaker 3: of those key games and play the other four teams
Speaker 3: in your group one time each either home or away,
Speaker 3: and the Pacers ended up winning the Sixers group and
Speaker 3: going all the way to the championship game, where they
Speaker 3: lost to the Lakers, who were the first champions of
Speaker 3: this thing. But this Knixt game on November twelfth, this
Speaker 3: Magic Game on November fifteenth, Nets November twenty second, and
Speaker 3: the Charlotte Hornets December third. The two back to backs
Speaker 3: they have in the NBA Cup are both front end
Speaker 3: back to backs, so they can really go all out
Speaker 3: on winning these group stage games. Not that they weren't
Speaker 3: last year, but they were on the second night against
Speaker 3: the Pacers, and I believe it was before a big
Speaker 3: game against the Celtics too, or maybe it was that
Speaker 3: that they played the Pacers and then the Celtics. So
Speaker 3: basically it looks more favorable when it comes to setting
Speaker 3: up your lineup for these groups stage games. Now, the
Speaker 3: NBA on Christmas Day always a huge deal, and the
Speaker 3: Sixers are part of it. Again, with a five pm
Speaker 3: Eastern game on Wednesday Christmas at the Boston Celtics, the
Speaker 3: defending champions, it doesn't get much bigger than that.
Speaker 2: And again, as was the case pairing up with the
Speaker 2: Milwaukee Bucks on opening Night, the NBA giving the seventy
Speaker 2: six Ers a ton of respect when it comes to
Speaker 2: breaking down this schedule, right the opportunity to play against
Speaker 2: the defending champs, to play against arrival, to play on
Speaker 2: Christmas Day during one of these marquee slots on ABC
Speaker 2: in one of the more famous arenas in the country.
Speaker 2: Whether or not you like Boston, you have to respect
Speaker 2: the basketball environment up there, right.
Speaker 1: So to position the Sixers in this way on both
Speaker 1: of the early marquee days for.
Speaker 2: The league is flattering and it's an indication that the
Speaker 2: league is expecting big things from the seventy six Ers,
Speaker 2: who of course are expecting big things from themselves this season.
Speaker 3: Sixers are one of the teams let's played the most
Speaker 3: on Christmas Day. They played the early game against the Knicks,
Speaker 3: but the Spurs will be in New York. Well, they
Speaker 3: played the Heat most recently on Christmas, but they've in
Speaker 3: the past played the early game against the Knicks. It's
Speaker 3: Spurs at Knicks, Timberwolves at Mavericks, seventy six Ers at Celtics,
Speaker 3: Lakers at Warriors, and Nuggets at Suns. And that is
Speaker 3: definitely one of the marquee games that I'm looking forward to.
Speaker 3: But we will wrap in a few moments with not
Speaker 3: only the marquee matchup that we're looking forward to the most,
Speaker 3: but also an under the radar game that each of
Speaker 3: us is looking forward to the most. So the Boston
Speaker 3: games don't start until Christmas, and the other three are
Speaker 3: February second in Philadelphia, the first home game against the
Speaker 3: defending champs, February twentieth, also in Philadelphia, and March sixth,
Speaker 3: So they don't play Boston until Christmas, which should give
Speaker 3: the time the team sometime to get going, and also
Speaker 3: around the All Star break is also another where they
Speaker 3: played half of that regular season series against the Celtics.
Speaker 3: What about the Knicks matchup this year with the first
Speaker 3: being the cup game, and then it's another season where
Speaker 3: they don't play at MSG until later in the season.
Speaker 3: So it's January fifteenth at home, February twenty sixth, and
Speaker 3: April first in New York. But how much are you
Speaker 3: looking forward to seeing the Knicks, which now feature macal
Speaker 3: Bridges against the Sixers, which of course now feature Paul
Speaker 3: George and a host of other new players.
Speaker 2: Not, of course I'm biased, but to me, looking back
Speaker 2: at this NBA Playoffs, the Sixers versus the Knicks, the
Speaker 2: first round of these NBA Playoffs, to me was the
Speaker 2: most exciting series throughout the course of the playoffs. And
Speaker 2: I think that there's an argument to be made that
Speaker 2: it's not even that close. Right, the margin of defeat,
Speaker 2: the margin of victory in each of those games, the
Speaker 2: late game, hero, the theatrics. This series had everything right,
Speaker 2: and everyone remembers how it started.
Speaker 1: How it middled, how it ended.
Speaker 2: I had circled one of the first dates I had circled,
Speaker 2: November twelfth versus the New York Knicks in Philadelphia to
Speaker 2: open the NBA Cups late. By the way, the Knicks
Speaker 2: probably the best of the teams that the Sixers are
Speaker 2: going to face throughout the NBA Cup, which again you
Speaker 2: mentioned it. The Knicks, the Orlando Magic, the Brooklyn Nets,
Speaker 2: and the Charlotte Hornets make up the group phase or
Speaker 2: the group stage that the Sixers are going to play
Speaker 2: in the NBA Cup. But anyway, remembering the taste that
Speaker 2: was left in Sixers fans mouths and in Knicks fans mouths,
Speaker 2: that series was testy to get to resume it early
Speaker 2: in the season, very exciting. Not unlike what we were
Speaker 2: talking about with the Milwaukee Bucks. These are teams that
Speaker 2: are going to be linked throughout the season, perhaps even beyond,
Speaker 2: really looking forward to seeing how they match up. Obviously,
Speaker 2: both teams have leveled up their front side of the
Speaker 2: roster and backsides of the roster in interest ways that
Speaker 2: will change the way that the teams match up with
Speaker 2: one another. But some of the key characters, of course,
Speaker 2: are the same. Continuing to watch Brunson versus Maxi for
Speaker 2: years to come is going to be a pleasure, and
Speaker 2: that pleasure definitely will resume on November twelfth, in Philadelphia.
Speaker 3: That first round matchup that certainly felt like a later
Speaker 3: round matchup up to high quality Eastern Conference teams last
Speaker 3: year ended with the Knicks scoring six hundred and fifty
Speaker 3: points to the six or six hundred and forty nine points,
Speaker 3: which is just remarkable to look back on. It was
Speaker 3: so closely contested, and then a reminder about the Cup.
Speaker 3: You can either win your group or be the other
Speaker 3: team the other top two teams from your conference that
Speaker 3: also advanced to the quarterfinals, which will be in mid December.
Speaker 3: But we'll have plenty more on that when we get closer.
Speaker 3: Some other things about the schedule. You talk about the Knicks,
Speaker 3: the first Knicks game being early season, so is a
Speaker 3: West Coast trip against Phoenix and both LA teams. Why
Speaker 3: is that unusual a little bit for recent Sixers history.
Speaker 2: Well, in recent history, the Sixers don't go all the
Speaker 2: way to Los Angeles until March, right, so to go
Speaker 2: early in the season feels not like a mistake, especially
Speaker 2: when you look at the fact that that's a three
Speaker 2: game trip with three national TV games at Phoenix at
Speaker 2: LA Clippers at LA Lakers. A reminder that the Clippers
Speaker 2: and the Lakers will not be in the same building
Speaker 2: this season. A reminder that just two weeks into his
Speaker 2: Sixers tenure, Paul George is going to return and have
Speaker 2: his first date with his former team in Los Angeles,
Speaker 2: his first date with his former team in a new
Speaker 2: arena in Los Angeles. So really looking forward to that
Speaker 2: November six again, two weeks to the day from the
Speaker 2: season opener October twenty third versus Milwaukee. We will see
Speaker 2: Paul George against his former team. We'll see Tyrese Maxi
Speaker 2: and Joel Embiid against some former teammates, talking of course
Speaker 2: about James Harden, PJ Tucker, Niko Btu Zom back with
Speaker 2: the Clippers, Mobamba signing with the Clippers. So there's tons
Speaker 2: of energy in those first couple weeks. That's without Matt
Speaker 2: even mentioning going back to Toronto early in the season again,
Speaker 2: which will be always a meaningful matchup for head coach
Speaker 2: Nick Nurse, who won a title there of course not
Speaker 2: that many years ago. So there's a ton in those
Speaker 2: first couple weeks. It's meaty, and I'm excited to watch
Speaker 2: the Sixers get such high quality opponents and such marquee
Speaker 2: matchups again as determined by the league so early in
Speaker 2: their schedule.
Speaker 3: The other Sixers Clippers regular season game is also in November,
Speaker 3: November twenty fourth in Philadelphia against Paul George, his most
Speaker 3: recent team before joining up with the seventy six Ers.
Speaker 3: The Denver Nuggets matchups Joel Embiid and Nikola Jokic, which
Speaker 3: we saw on the game's biggest international stage. Those will
Speaker 3: be in January first, the twenty first of January in
Speaker 3: Denver and the thirty first of January in South Philadelphia.
Speaker 3: There are fourteen back to backs on the s Sixers
Speaker 3: schedule this year, four in the span of two weeks
Speaker 3: in January, two more that pop up in early February,
Speaker 3: so that period of time will be busy for the team.
Speaker 3: But before we wrap up with the matchups that you
Speaker 3: and I are looking forward to personally, is there anything
Speaker 3: in regards to month by month long home stand long
Speaker 3: road trips that jump off the page.
Speaker 1: Well, you mentioned the.
Speaker 2: Back to backs and a lot of road back to
Speaker 2: backs road road rather back to backs for the six
Speaker 2: Ers in the second half of the season. I'm looking
Speaker 2: in January at SAC at Golden State back to back
Speaker 2: not that uncommon to see those two teams on consecutive nights.
Speaker 2: The six Ers have done it before a few times
Speaker 2: in the last couple of years, but at Indiana and
Speaker 2: at Milwaukee on January eighteenth and nineteenth. Then you go
Speaker 2: ahead to March at Dallas at Houston, not as close
Speaker 2: together as people that aren't from Texas like myself might think.
Speaker 1: That is a little bit of a journey. At Dallas at.
Speaker 2: Houston back to back on the sixteenth and the seventeenth
Speaker 2: of March, and then at Atlanta at New Orleans back
Speaker 2: to back on the twenty third and twenty fourth of March.
Speaker 2: So those road road back to backs really in terms
Speaker 2: of sort of a shock to your system, right playing
Speaker 2: high intensity, getting on a plane, getting in changing time zones,
Speaker 2: those are things that I think fans when you turn
Speaker 2: on the game don't really realize exactly how much traveling
Speaker 2: circus through the night is happening every night for every.
Speaker 1: Team in the NBA.
Speaker 2: But those road road back to back is always something
Speaker 2: to look at, and then of course to look at
Speaker 2: what the other team is coming off of. But when
Speaker 2: it's a road road back to back, you know, at
Speaker 2: least the opponent is playing at home and the Sixers
Speaker 2: do not have that privilege. This year, there are a
Speaker 2: few home home back to backs. A couple road home
Speaker 2: back to backs are home road back to backs rather,
Speaker 2: but those road road ones are always ones to look at,
Speaker 2: because if you can steal both games in a road
Speaker 2: road back to back, you've done something pretty impressive.
Speaker 3: I'm going to quickly list the big game that I'm
Speaker 3: looking forward to the most, maybe among the more notable opponents.
Speaker 3: It is that Christmas game in Boston. The five o'clock start.
Speaker 3: I just think that is that's like seems like the
Speaker 3: perfect time on Christmas for a six Ers Celtics game. Really,
Speaker 3: I could go with any of the Boston games as
Speaker 3: the ones I'm looking forward to the most. I think
Speaker 3: the ones post All Star Break, the two that are
Speaker 3: after the All Star Break, which is February twentieth and
Speaker 3: March sixth, could tell us a lot about where both
Speaker 3: of these teams are in the Eastern Conference and how
Speaker 3: they stack up against each other. Because to be the best,
Speaker 3: you have to beat the best, and this Celtics starting
Speaker 3: lineup at least was so so good last season to
Speaker 3: go all the way. Which Marquee game are you looking at?
Speaker 2: I mean, listen, can't argue with the argument that you
Speaker 2: just laid out. I love playing at Denver. I know
Speaker 2: that that's an opponent that the Sixers have had circled
Speaker 2: on their calendar year after year. We haven't seen Yokic
Speaker 2: embid as many times as we've wanted to over the years.
Speaker 2: So I am looking at January twenty first at Denver,
Speaker 2: that coming off of well ending.
Speaker 1: A road trip that features a road road back to back.
Speaker 2: We just mentioned at Indiana at Milwaukee, then taking a
Speaker 2: day off to get to Denver. But at Milwaukee is
Speaker 2: another one that I love, love We talked about it,
Speaker 2: love the first game against the Clippers. Love anytime the
Speaker 2: Sixers face the Dallas Mavericks. There are more connections there
Speaker 2: than we seem to remember. And Tyrese Maxi takes his
Speaker 2: hometown team really seriously. So looking forward to those I
Speaker 2: don't want to steal you're under the radar game. Why
Speaker 2: don't you take it off my plate so that I
Speaker 2: don't steal it from you, because that's what I was
Speaker 2: going to say.
Speaker 3: Next December twenty third, Victor Wembanyama and the San Antonio
Speaker 3: Spurs seven Eastern in South Philadelphia. So right before that,
Speaker 3: Sixer Celtics game. It's the up and coming Spurs coming
Speaker 3: to Philadelphia on Monday night, the twenty third, and then
Speaker 3: you've got Christmas Eve and then the game in Boston
Speaker 3: at five on Wednesday. So that is my under the
Speaker 3: radar game, and I was given under the Radar honorable mention.
Speaker 3: I know Milwaukee, I don't know if they could qualify
Speaker 3: as under the radar, but it's more so about just
Speaker 3: the day that this game falls on. Another Bucks matchup
Speaker 3: is is February ninth in Milwaukee. It's Super Bowl Sunday,
Speaker 3: so that will be a an afternoon start leading into
Speaker 3: the Super Bowl for the Sixers and the Bucks.
Speaker 1: I love that big day.
Speaker 2: If you're a sports fan, circle it on your calendar
Speaker 2: right now, February ninth, your appetizer is six Ers at.
Speaker 3: Bucks and then the Egles Gaga in the Super Bowl.
Speaker 1: Exactly. You took it right out of my mouth.
Speaker 2: I was going to say, you're gonna see the Sixers
Speaker 2: and the Eagles on the same day, February ninth.
Speaker 1: Matt, It's a great schedule. Listen.
Speaker 2: There will be matchups that we did not talk about
Speaker 2: today that we're going to look back on. I'm thinking
Speaker 2: about these past two matchups with the San Antonio Spurs.
Speaker 2: Last season, we didn't mention those on the well we
Speaker 2: mentioned in the run up to last season. We did
Speaker 2: mention being excited to watch Victor Weembanyama, but we didn't
Speaker 2: realize that those two games were going to be such
Speaker 2: memorable ones last season. I'm talking, of course, of Joel
Speaker 2: Embiid's career high game and then Tyrese Maxi doing the
Speaker 2: same in San Antonio weeks later. So both of those
Speaker 2: games were awesome last season. I'm very excited to see
Speaker 2: which under the radar games we didn't choose, making them
Speaker 2: under the under the radar games are going to stick
Speaker 2: out to us when we look back at twenty four
Speaker 2: to twenty five?
Speaker 3: Did I miss your under the radar pick?
Speaker 1: I mean I listed so many.
Speaker 2: I think my under the radar pick where.
Speaker 1: The back to backs were? I think I didn't pick.
Speaker 2: One, and I think that was intentional because I don't
Speaker 2: want to be proven wrong when my under the radar
Speaker 2: pick ends up not being a great game. But listen
Speaker 2: for me, the Golden State Warriors, do you always stand
Speaker 2: out on a schedule. I don't know if it's just
Speaker 2: because I became a massive NBA fan during their dynasty,
Speaker 2: but the fact that Steph Curry Draymond Green are still
Speaker 2: going to be a part of that team every single year,
Speaker 2: I'll look forward to watching how our Sixers match up
Speaker 2: with the Golden State Warriors. And of course, now adding
Speaker 2: an extra level right Steph Curry and Joel Andbi Team
Speaker 2: USA teammates this summer going to be really cool to
Speaker 2: watch him go into these buildings with some new friends
Speaker 2: with some tight bonds. Looking at at Lakers on November eighth,
Speaker 2: Joelle reuniting with Team USA teammate Lebron James.
Speaker 1: That's going to be fun to say.
Speaker 2: All season long as he continues to visit his now
Speaker 2: teammates as opponents.
Speaker 3: Those are all well and good, but I'm assigning you
Speaker 3: January fourteenth at home against the Oklahoma City Thunder, who
Speaker 3: could be one of the lost that too, the best
Speaker 3: teams in the West, if not the best team in
Speaker 3: the West again in the regular season. That's a back
Speaker 3: to back mid January against the Thunder at home and
Speaker 3: then the Knicks at home the fourteenth and fifteenth. The
Speaker 3: preseason schedule is a game on October seventh. October eleventh
Speaker 3: in Minnesota against Minnesota in Des Moines, Iowa. October twelfth
Speaker 3: at Boston, two days later in Atlanta. There's six games
Speaker 3: October sixteenth at home against Brooklyn and October eighteenth in
Speaker 3: Orlando to wrap up the preseason. But we can't wait
Speaker 3: for that to get started, to end the twenty twenty
Speaker 3: four to twenty twenty five NBA season to get started
Speaker 3: for the Philadelphia seventy six ers. Lauren Rosen, thank you
Speaker 3: as always.
Speaker 1: Matt Murphy, thank you so much,