Another schedule leak, another Sixers game in the national spotlight.
The night after James Harden broke the news that the Sixers are set to play the Knicks on Christmas, The Athletic’s Shams Charania reported Sixers-Celtics at TD Garden will feature on the NBA’s opening night of Oct. 18.
The league’s full schedule will be released Wednesday. Marc Stein reported.
The Sixers and Celtics split their four-game season series last year. Joel Embiid was tremendous in his last Boston appearance, posting 41 points, 10 rebounds, five assists and four blocks in a Dec. 20 wins. Both teams were badly shorthanded because of COVID-19 protocols.
Boston fell to 15-16 with that loss but improbably turned its season around. The Celtics, Bucks and Sixers all finished the season at 51-31. Boston won a seven-game playoff series over Milwaukee and Miami to reach the NBA Finals, where the Warriors prevailed. The Sixers dropped a six-game second-round series to the Heat.
The last Sixers-Celtics meeting was an unpleasant night for the home team. After holding an introductory press conference earlier in the day for Harden and Paul Millsap, the Sixers were steamrolled at the Wells Fargo Center in their final game before the All-Star break.
They lost by a season-worst 48 points.
“We didn’t have much,” Sixers head coach Doc Rivers said. “Offensively, it’s as poor as I’ve ever seen us — ever. And then defensively, they made more threes than we made twos. They got everything all game They were better tonight in every way — coaching, playing, and if there’s another category, they were better in that. There’s not a lot you can do about tonight.”
With the NBA world watching, it’s likely safe to assume the Sixers will have a better showing than that on opening night.