By Kevin McCormick, Sports Talk Philly Editor 
As training camps begin to come to an end, the start of the 2020-2021 NBA season is right around the corner. On Friday afternoon, the NBA released the first half of the schedule for this upcoming regular season.
The Sixers will kick off the season at home against the Washington Wizards on December 23rd. Of the 37 games released, the Sixers will play 19 games at home and 18 on the road.
Their start to the season is light, and then things begin to ramp up. The Sixers will start their season facing off against the Wizards, Knicks, and Cavaliers. This gives them a good chance to hit the ground running early and build momentum.
One game that should be circled early is January 7th, where the Sixers will travel to Brooklyn to face the Nets. This game will be nationally televised and will be the team's first look at the Kevin Durant-Kyrie Irving led Brooklyn squad.
In attempts to cut down on traveling, the league is experiment with series-style matchups this season. The Sixers will have five matchups where they play a team on back to back nights. Those opponents are the Hornets, Heat, Celtics, Pistons, and Raptors.
Other Notable Matchups
- January 9th vs. Nuggets
- January 11th vs. Hawks
- January 27th vs. Lakers
- February 13th vs. Suns
- February 25th vs. Mavericks
In this half of the schedule, the Sixers face off mostly against teams in their conference. Out of these 37 games, 24 of them will be against Eastern Conference opponents.
In the finale of the first half, the Sixers will square off against Donovan Mitchell and the Utah Jazz on Wednesday, March 3rd. Despite some rough stretches in the schedule, the Sixers have a great chance to come out the first half with a good record.
