76ers begin season in Boston, battle Knicks on Christmas Day

For the first time since 2019, the Philadelphia 76ers will play on Christmas Day as they travel to Madison Square Garden to battle the Knicks, the team announced Wednesday.

Philadelphia will tip off the NBA season against the Boston Celtics at TD Garden on Tuesday, Oct. 18, in what will serve as the league’s first game of the new campaign.

The 76ers will be on national television 34 times next season.   

Philly’s home opener will be against the Milwaukee Bucks on Thursday, Oct. 20. In addition, Ben Simmons and the Nets come to Philly on November 22, which should be a lot of fun.

Five of its first seven games are coming against 2021-22 playoff qualifiers. The 76ers will also conclude the regular season with 12 consecutive matchups against playoff teams from the previous year.

Schedule Notes:

• The NBA announced that no games will be played on Election Day, Tuesday, Nov. 8, 2022, in an effort to focus on promoting and encouraging fans to make a plan to vote during midterm elections.

• Philadelphia will host the defending champion Golden State Warriors on Friday, Dec. 16 (7:30 p.m. ET, ESPN).

• The 76ers will have 17 weekend games (nine Fridays, five Saturdays, three Sundays) at The Center.

• Philadelphia is slated for 13 sets back-to-back games, four of which will come on the road in March.

• Also in March, Philadelphia will have 12 away games, marking the most games away from The Center for a single month this season.

• Philadelphia’s longest road trip of the season runs eight days and five games in length from Jan. 14-21. This includes games against Utah (Saturday, Jan. 14, 10 p.m. ET), the Los Angeles Lakers (Sunday, Jan. 15, 9:30 p.m. ET, NBA TV), the LA Clippers (Tuesday, Jan. 17, 10 p.m. ET, TNT), Portland (Thursday, Jan. 19, 10 p.m., ET), and Sacramento (Saturday, Jan. 21, 10 p.m. ET).

• The 76ers’ longest homestand of 2022-23 is seven games over 15 days from Dec. 9-23. This stretch includes games against the Lakers (Friday, Dec. 9, 7:30 p.m. ET, ESPN), Hornets (Sunday, Dec. 11, 6 p.m. ET), Kings (Tuesday, Dec. 13, 7 p.m. ET), Warriors (Friday, Dec. 16, 7:30 p.m. ET, ESPN), Raptors (Monday, Dec. 19, 7 p.m. ET), Pistons (Wednesday, Dec. 21, 7 p.m. ET), and Clippers (Friday, Dec. 23, 7 p.m. ET).22-23_ScheduleRelease