Philadelphia 76ers: Breaking down the remaining schedule

The NBA has officially released the remaining schedule for all 22 teams in Orlando. Here’s how it plays out for the Philadelphia 76ers.

After three months of thumb-twiddling boredom and Hardwood Classics binging, the wait is over for live basketball, and the Philadelphia 76ers are gearing up for a postseason run.

What should be an entertaining resumption for the NBA, it’s also brimming with questions, mostly related to the safety concerns of the coronavirus. And while for most of the league’s players, it’s going to quickly have the feels of being back in AAU ball again with the fast-paced, one venue style of these games — the Sixers have a chance to heighten their expectations.

But which team are we going to see?

Before the break, the Sixers mainly struggled with two things: Winning road games and keeping players healthy. They had a home record of 29-2, and were a dreadful 10-24 on the road. With every team now sharing the courts in Disney World, it’s going to be up to them to determine which side shows up. Another thing that’s going to play a serious factor is conditioning. How will Joel Embiid look from the start? Will Ben Simmons actually be ready for 30-plus minutes out of the gate? Is Al Horford’s age going to catch up to him?

Here is a look at the team’s eight-game schedule:

• Saturday, August 1: Sixers-Pacers, 7 p.m.
• Monday, August 3: Sixers-Spurs, 8 p.m.
• Wednesday, August 5: Sixers-Wizards, 4 p.m.
• Friday, August 7: Sixers-Magic, 6:30 p.m.
• Sunday, August 9: Sixers-Trail Blazers, 6:30 p.m.
• Tuesday, August 11: Sixers-Suns, 4:30 p.m.
• Wednesday, August 12: Sixers-Raptors, 6:30 p.m.
• Friday, August 14: Sixers-Rockets, TBD

This ramp-up slate features four nationally televised games (Washington Wizards NBA TV, Orlando Magic TNT, Portland Trail Blazers NBA TV, Toronto Raptors ESPN).

The games that probably should’ve swiped each other out for viewing purposes are the Indiana Pacers opener and the meaningless Wizards game. Washington is 24-40, and 5.5 games back from the eighth seed in the Eastern Conference. Essentially, this should be a cakewalk for the Sixers – hence the worst contest on this list.

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As for Indy, this game likely has the most implications on the line when it comes to seeding. With Malcolm Brogdon recently testing positive for COVID, there’s no guarantee that he’ll be a full go when he joins the Pacers in Orlando. Two-time All-Star Victor Oladipo’s status remains up in the air, as well. The Sixers are down in this season series 2-1, but coming out with a confidence-boosting win could lead to a notable shift in the East.

Sure, the Sixers may enter their first game in Orlando with a fully healthy crew, but what happens if someone tests positive for coronavirus out of the gate? According to ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski, if a player tests positive for the virus, the league’s intent would be to remove that player from the team to quarantine and treat individually — and continue to test other team members as they play on, sources said.

Even then, things could get rough in a hurry, just as they could for any team.

Only 35 members of each team will be permitted to make the trip, with a roster of up to 17 players. The Sixers rounded out the roster on Friday with the addition of forward Ryan Broekhoff. As a squad that always seems to need another marksman or two, Broekhoff’s career 40.3 percent 3-point shooting should give Philly something else to tinker with over the next month. How head coach Brett Brown plans to use the Australian native will likely be sorted out as they wrap up the regular season. Luckily, given the current circumstances, the pressure will be off in these eight affairs.

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Two more games that should garner interest are the Portland and Toronto matchups. The Trail Blazers have a pair of their best frontcourt players returning in Zach Collins and Jusuf Nurkic, and while it’s uncertain what energy Damian Lillard will bring, it should wind up being a quality test for the Sixers. They will also get a crack at Kyle Lowry and the Raptors, where we’ll get to see the big man duel of Embiid and Marc Gasol again before postseason play.

With one of the easiest remaining schedules, all roads still lead to matching up with either the Boston Celtics, Miami Heat or the Pacers. Candidly, none of these appear to be more advantageous than the other. In the Philadelphia 76ers’ case, being a higher seed no longer has any merit, which will offer the requisite time to shake off the rust and get their rotation squared away.

Not to say that they shouldn’t try their best to go 8-0, and steamroll their way into the playoffs. They absolutely should. Looking back on the end of the 2017-18 season, the Heat series could’ve gone a much different way, had the Sixers not rode into the postseason on a historic 17-game win streak. It’d be great to find momentum like that again, but what they don’t need are setbacks when their first-round series rolls around. (Mind you, this isn’t a roster that was constructed for depth.)

The health of players is one thing, but if the Philadelphia 76ers still lack any semblance of an identity, then it could be disastrous. Is this remaining schedule the key to finally getting on track? Or, will they be punished in a neutral setting, just as they were for their away performances throughout the year? Out of all 22 teams heading to Orlando, they are certainly the ones with the most to prove.

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