Championship aspiration is the main theme this season for the Philadelphia 76ers, but they will have to go through several tough opponents in the Eastern Conference to even have a shot at the title. The Sixers fans have labelled the Boston Celtics and the New York Knicks as their primary antagonists in the East, but there are other squads that could pose an issue for the team this season.
The regular season seeding will be of paramount importance considering that the 76ers are among the top favorites to win it all this year. In any case, if they want to achieve their goals, they will have to beat the likes of Milwaukee, Cleveland, and Indiana. All three of those teams were in a better playoff position than the 76ers last season, and they will likely provide a tough challenge.
In any case, these are the three underappreciated East powerhouses the 76ers should worry about this season.
The Milwaukee Bucks proved to be a tough cover for the 76ers last season
Philadelphia opted to create a strong superstar core consisting of Joel Embiid, Tyrese Maxey and Paul George. Daryl Morey put together the team, adding some veteran depth behind their best players. The Milwaukee Bucks tried to do the same thing this summer after an underwhelming end to their 2024 postseason run.
Milwaukee traded for Damian Lillard last summer, but their bet on the former Portland Trails Blazers star did not produce the expected results. The Bucks ended up being an early first-round exit, with both Giannis Antetokounmpo and Damian Lillard sidelined. This season, things could be different for them with both of their stars injury-free. They also added savvy veterans like Gary Trent Jr. and Delon Wright to improve their bench.
Even against a healthy Bucks squad, the 76ers remain on paper the better team this season. They have a better-constructed roster and superior bench depth. However, Giannis Antetokounmpo is still a dominant force that can go for 40 and 50 points at any time, while Lillard is expected to recuperate last season's underwhelming production.
Keep in mind that the 76ers will open their 2024-25 campaign against Milwaukee on October 23 in Wells Fargo Center. This should be the first notable challenge for them in a long and demanding season as Philadelphia experienced tough losses in each of the last three games, they faced Milwaukee.
The Indiana Pacers double down on last season's success against the 76ers' refurbished roster
The Philadelphia 76ers were involved in a nasty back-and-forth playoff series against the New York Knicks last April. While, New York was able to get through the 76ers team in six games, they appeared gashed and hurt when they played the next round against the Indiana Pacers. In a sense, the 76ers helped Indiana make the Eastern Conference Finals last season, but the Tyrese Haliburton-led team had enough talent to see the Knicks off.
The Pacers have a bunch of highly skilled players on a roster headlined by Haliburton, Pascal Siakam, and Myles Turner. In addition to those three, you can add to the mix the shot-making ability of Andrew Nembhard and the physical toughness of Aaron Nesmith. Outside a star-ridden starting five, they have enough depth to compete against anybody.
Indiana is a highly skilled offensive team, and they can run a very efficient offense led by one of the best playmakers in the league. Philadelphia value as a contender will be tested seriously against the Pacers, especially with the Sixers being the older team with many veterans and injury-prone players in its roster. Indiana kept the majority of their key roster pieces and will try to improve even more from last year.
The Pacers and 76ers won the same amount (47) of games last year, but Indiana won the last two contests against them. In addition, they scored more than 122 points in each of the last season's games against Philly. The two franchises will meet on Sunday, October 27 for the first matchup of the 2024-25 regular season campaign.
The Philadelphia 76ers should be wary of Cleveland Cavaliers' coaching change
Most of the Philadelphia 76ers opponents will start the season having the upper hand due to the continuity of their roster. The Cavaliers retained all of their players from the team that reached the Eastern Conference semifinals last season, but decided to move from head coach JB Bickerstaff and replaced him with former Warriors' assistant Kenny Atkinson.
The Cavaliers are always set to be a challenge for the 76ers due to their size inside the paint and the fact that they have two defense-first centers to go against Joel Embiid. Evan Mobley and Jarrett Allen are one of the best defensive duos inside the paint.
The two teams split the series with two wins each, but Joel Embiid played in only one of the four contests. A fact that we need to mention from those games is Tyrese Maxey's shooting struggles. The explosive guard went against one of the top defenses in the league and averaged 23 points, but only shot 37 % from the field and 26% from three.
Kenny Atkinson is going to bring a different approach with the hope of improving the team's offense and integrating Donovan Mitchell and Darius Garland offensive talent together. That said, the 76ers will have more star power in their squad with the addition of Paul George and some highly physical wings like Caleb Martin and Guerschon Yabusele.
