Training camp may still be more than a handful of weeks away from kicking off, but the recent schedule release for the 2024-25 season has everyone all riled up. The Philadelphia 76ers, a team expected to contend for the championship, can now also start plotting the points for a potentially title-clinching action plan.
Having said that, no walk in the park awaits them in the upcoming campaign. Their full 82-game slate (well, 80 for now) has some details that jump off the page right away and could have siginificant repercussions on how they stand to operate next season. Here are four, observable quirks from their still-hot schedule.
4. The 76ers have a realistic shot at winning the NBA Cup
With New York standing as the lone tough draw in East Group A, Philadelphia has a pretty solid and realistic shot at winning the Emirates NBA Cup. The reward for raising the in-season tournament trophy last time was a clear-cut financial add-on, ande despite early reservations, the tourney ended up adding much more spice to the early junctures of the season.
Orlando is another playoff team to watch out for, but unless something drastic happens in pool play, the 76ers should have what it takes to come out on top and head to the knockouts. Brooklyn and Charlotte, the two cellar-dwellers in the group, simply don’t have the talent to match or even compete with Philly.
For the untrained eye, this seems like an unnecessary exercise altogether, but it is certainly a nice momentum boost that can rev the team up for the entire campaign. While the season will still be young when the 76ers engage in these riveting matches, it wouldn’t hurt for them to exert more effort than usual to trump in their pool and compete for higher stakes.
3. A relatively easy schedule awaits Philly to end the season
The Eastern Conference is much deeper than before — an observation that only stands to get even more whiff of the truth with most playoff teams in the East entering the 2024-25 season on stronger footing. As a result, even with a more talented crop this time around, the 76ers cannot just pace themselves in the regular season too comfortably.
Securing the top seed in the East would be most ideal, but if the 76ers are unable to do so, they should gun for the highest seed possible. Thankfully, their schedule to end the season makes that outcome a tad more realistic.
From March 22 to April 14, the last day of the regular season, Philadelphia is slated for seven outings against non-playoff teams, including three staright to end their campaign off. Should they take care of business, that’s already seven wins in the bag in addition to the inevitable few, at worst, that they will secure against teams expected to be in the playoff picture.
2. The 76ers will face a couple of long, tough tests on the road
At first glance, the 76ers will face a couple of tought tests; first to end and begin the calendar year, and second, to pick up steam at the end of March. Both of these lengthy road trips would be good yardsticks and progress checks to see where the team currently stands at those critical points in their campaign.
The first one has Philadelphia facing defending champions Boston on the road as a prelude to a visit to the West Coast, a historically difficult trek for all teams given the drastic travel logistics. It ends with a visit to a much more modest opponent in Brooklyn, but as it happens right in the middle of the 2024-2025 transition, this should be a great measure of the team’s chemistry.
Meanwhile, the 76ers will travel South from March 17 to 25, and the quality of team that will be hosting them are no joke. The Texas Triangle will always be a tough sojourn, especially with the Rockets and Spurs now much more competitive and the Mavericks coming off an NBA Finals appearance. Hopefully, they can ace this one.
1. Philadelphia could come out a very weary bunch with 15 back-to-backs
Despite the NBA’s efforts to curb the numbers of back-to-backs to a plausible minimum, the 76ers got the shorter end of the stick this time. They will have 15 back-to-backs this season, their most since the 2016-17 season, and one more than last season’s 14. Safe to say, rest won’t be much of a point of leverage for them.
Last season, Philly went 7-7 on the second leg of back-to-backs. Hopefully, that tally card improves this time, though this could admittedly be tricky for a team with a lot of older commodities than fresh legs. Their depth will be hevaily tested, especially if a key player or two is to be held out due to injury or rest.
The 76ers don’t have a very forgiving slate with these 15 back-to-backs, especially with most of these coming at the midseason point, but they will provide very definitive tests for the team’s depth amd overall roster quality. Here’s to them making them seem like a piece of cake.
