I’ve looked at the Sixers’ newly released schedule quite often since it was released last Wednesday. It’s a fairly typical schedule, with only a few things worth noting. Here are the things I picked out to analyze:
The Sixers have zero nationally televised games this season. However, they play twice on NBA TV. Those games are November 9 versus the Chicago Bulls, and November 29 versus the Memphis Grizzlies.
The Sixers will play on back-to-back nights 19 times this season, which is the most out of all the Atlantic Division teams. The Boston Celtics have 18, the Toronto Raptors have 17, and the New York Knicks and Brooklyn Nets both have only 15. On one hand, this is a young team, so handling a lot of basketball in short periods of time might not be all that physically overwhelming. However, as anyone who follows the NBA knows, the mental challenge of handling that endless succession of flights, late hotel check-ins, and generally odd hours is just as daunting. Minimizing sweep losses in these 19 back-to-backs will be one fundamental goal for the Sixers as they try to navigate this logistically harsh 82-game layout.
The Sixers will play three games in four nights 19 times this season as well. They will play four games in five nights only twice this year. However, their toughest stint will be from March 15-23, when they will play a whopping six games in only eight nights. The Oklahoma City Thunder and Washington Wizards highlight those six games. A 2-4 mark in this six-game span would be reasonable. A 3-3 mark would be impressive, and a sign of a team that’s growing into something better for the 2016-2017 season.
The Sixers will also have two 6-game road trips, which will be the longest trips of the season. The second of those two trips will be the Sixers’ annual West Coast tour. They’ll face off against the Bucks, Suns, Jazz, Kings, Lakers, and Clippers. Naturally, being able to swipe the games against the Kings and the Lakers will be a first goal. Winning those two and then stealing a game against the other four would make the Western swing a relative success.
The Sixers’ longest home stint at Wells Fargo Arena is six games from January 4-16. Their opponents will be the Minnesota Timberwolves, Atlanta Hawks, the Raptors, the Cleveland Cavaliers, the Chicago Bulls, and the Portland Trail Blazers. Given the erosion of both Atlanta’s and Portland’s rosters in the offseason, the Sixers should aim for a 3-3 record in that collection of games.
The Sixers will play on Martin Luther King Jr. Day in New York, and will take on the hosting Knicks. They’ll also have February 11-18 off for the All-Star break, and pick right back up on the 19th in New Orleans to take on the Pelicans. It’s worth noting that the week-long All-Star break is exactly what could enable the Sixers to hold up well under the strain of that brutal March stretch in which they play six games in eight nights.
The squad will travel a grand total of roughly 39,000 miles over the course of the season.
My prediction is that the Sixers will finish the season with a 27-55 record.
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