Philadelphia 76ers Land Opening Night, Christmas Day Spotlight on NBA Schedule

The Philadelphia 76ers will unsurprisingly be in the spotlight this season. 

After trading for All-NBA wing Jaylen Brown and signing superstar forward LeBron James, it was obvious the Sixers were going to find themselves at the center of attention.

Parts of the NBA regular season schedule were announced on Tuesday, and Philadelphia is very involved.

It starts on Oct. 20 with NBA Opening Night, as the 76ers will travel to Madison Square Garden to face the reigning champion New York Knicks. That day is a triple-header for the league, with the Boston Celtics and Detroit Pistons playing in the afternoon and the San Antonio Spurs and Oklahoma City Thunder matching up in the late evening.

76ers-Knicks is set to tip-off at 7 PM ET. 

Christmas Day holds a similar level of excitement for Philadelphia fans, as the 76ers will head to Los Angeles to play James' former team, the Lakers. The other matchups that day are Spurs vs. Knicks, Miami Heat vs. Celtics, Thunder vs. Minnesota Timberwolves, and Denver Nuggets vs. Golden State Warriors. 

The clash against the Knicks could truly go a plethora of directions. 

Maybe the 76ers come out on opening night and overwhelm the reigning champion with all of their star power. A starting lineup of Tyrese Maxey, V.J. Edgecombe, Brown, James, and Joel Embiid is unmatched by any team across the association from a talent prespective. 

Or, the alternative is it ends up taking this new-look Sixers core a while to figure things out. In that scenario, it's hard to imagine them emerging victorious against a Knicks team more than accustomed to playing together. 

The Christmas Day matchup in L.A. should produce just as much intrigue and will serve as a better example of what this 76ers roster is capable of.

At that point, James and Brown will have spent more than two months playing for Philadelphia. That is hopefully enough time for both of them to adjust and adapt to their new roles. The Lakers have a different-looking squad as well, so this will be a prominent test for both parties. 

James will face his former teammate in Luka Doncic, along with his ex-squad, Embiid will be put to the test against a defensive-minded big man in Walker Kessler, and much more.

All this is to say, don't be alarmed if the 76ers don't have it all figured out by the time their matchup with the Knicks rolls around. However, the expectations will greatly rise by Christmas time.