What a way to start the season. With so much hype and expectation building for the 2026-27 Sixers, a strong opening to the year was needed to meet it. After beating the Knicks in the season opener and pulling off a 29-point comeback to defeat the Cavaliers (the biggest comeback of LeBron James’s career), the Sixers have done just that.
To turn the tide in Thursday’s home opener, the Sixers dialled everything up in the second half. After a sloppy first half with weaker defense, cool shooting and only
seven assists to 15 turnovers, the second half was a different story entirely. In the final two quarters, they locked in with far more cohesive and intense defense, tallied 17 assists to a mere two turnovers, and put together a highly balanced attack led by their big four to secure the win. And to pull that off in today’s NBA while shooting just 7-of-28 from three for the game? That’s almost even more impressive.
It was an early look at what this team can be capable of. Let alone in a few months once they’ve really started strengthening their chemistry.
Next up, on Saturday night, the Sixers are going against a team further down the Eastern Conference picture as they take on the Bucks.
Dominick Barlow (back) and Tacko Fall (quad) are both still out, and Dean Wade remains questionable with an ankle sprain. LeBron, however, has been added to the injury report as questionable with back management.
Milwaukee don’t exactly have such an exciting outlook for the new season. Giannis Antetokounmpo is gone. After plenty of rumors and debate over where he may end up if he wanted to leave Milwaukee, the Bucks traded Giannis to the Heat for Tyler Herro, Jaime Jaquez Jr., Nate Ament, Kasparas Jakucionis, Kel’el Ware and a host of picks.
Herro has improved his scoring efficiency by a fair margin over the previous two seasons (recording a true shooting percentage over 60 in each, way above his previous career-high of 56.6) and can be a microwave scorer at his best. He’s also coming off a 34-point outing against the Bulls. Sixth Man of the Year runner-up Jaquez Jr. is a quality do-a-bit-of-everything player, but it’s still not the most exciting return in talent for a player of Giannis’s caliber. They’re two of the main threats for the Sixers to worry about on Saturday, though. It’ll be fun to see if Tyrese Maxey and VJ Edgecombe can continue their strong defensive start to the season by covering Herro’s driving and three-point creation effectively. Meanwhile, the Sixers’ forwards main tasks will be to cover Jaquez and Kyle Kuzma. If Wade, a terrific defender when available, does play, it’ll be a big help to have his defensive versatility at the 4 in the likely absence of James.
Myles Turner presents some challenges at center with his size, decent pick-and-pop play and talent as a rim protector. But if Joel Embiid continues the form and mobility he’s shown so far, he should more than be up for the task. Especially as he doesn’t need to come close to carrying the offense now.
As the Bucks opened their season with a loss to the Wizards and followed it up with a 132-125 loss to the Bulls on Friday, it’s felt like a sign of things to come. Giannis anchored the team at both ends of the floor and that obviously can’t be replaced. They already dropped off to a 32-50 record last season as Giannis only played in 36 games, and now they’re in for an even harder time. Watching their former MVP drop 35 points in his debut with the Heats had to rub some salt in the wound, too.
For Saturday night, this should be a win for the Sixers. The massive edge in talent alone should be enough to make this contest manageable and a good opportunity to continue building chemistry, even if LeBron gets some rest. While there have been cooler stretches (mainly the rough first half against Cleveland), the Sixers’ offense has looked brilliant at times.
They’ve utilised the strengths of each player, used the pull of Maxey and Jaylen Brown’s three-point shooting to free up space inside for cutters and rollers, showed fluid ball movement, scary transition potential, and dynamic new pick-and-roll combos already. They’ve been sharing the wealth effectively, too. Maxey is leading the way at an impressive 30.0 points per game, while LeBron (15.5 points), Brown (20.0 points) and Embiid (18.5 points) are all averaging a solid amount as well.
With the Bucks also playing on the second night of a back-to-back, the Sixers really have an upper hand. If Embiid is going to take his turn to rest at the end of Philly’s upcoming back-to-back, when they face a much harder test against Detroit on Sunday, the Sixers could do with taking advantage of that upper hand against Milwaukee.
Game Details
When: Saturday, October 24, 7:30 pm ET
Where: Xfinity Mobile Arena, Philadelphia, PA
Watch: NBC, NBA TV
Radio: 97.5 The Fanatic
Follow: @LibertyBallers
