The Philadelphia 76ers will take the floor at the Xfinity Mobile Arena for the first time in the 2025-26 regular season, hosting the Charlotte Hornets on Saturday night.
The Sixers are — perhaps a bit surprisingly
— 1-0 after taking down the Boston Celtics 117-116 at TD Garden earlier this week. It was a gutsy, come-from-behind fourth period win that featured a historic NBA debut from VJ Edgecombe. The 2025 No. 3 overall pick put up a franchise-record 34 points in his first game in the association. The previous Sixers’ record was held by Allen Iverson (30 points, 1996).
Backcourt-mate Tyrese Maxey was right there with Edgecombe making history, too. Maxey put up 40 points on Wednesday night, tying Hall of Famer Hal Greer’s 1969 franchise record for most points scored in a Sixers’ season opener.
Now, let’s not get too far ahead of ourselves. It was just one game of 82, and we all know how long of a season that can become. But, especially for a season that might not really be about this season, it was a fun start.
And now we move on to game No. 2. As of Friday evening’s injury report, Paul George (knee), Jared McCain (thumb) and Trendon Watford (hamstring) remain out for Philadelphia. Justin Edwards is probable with rib soreness. Joel Embiid, who was on a minutes restriction in the season opener and, frankly, just didn’t have a good first game, is notably not on the injury report.
For Charlotte, Josh Green (rib) and Grant Williams (knee) are both out for Saturday.
The Hornets come to South Philadelphia also 1-0 after comfortably winning their season-opener 136-117 over the visiting Brooklyn Nets. It was the result of a widespread effort from Charlotte, with nine of 10 players taking the floor scoring in the double-digits. Brandon Miller led the way with 25 points and seven assists and LaMelo Ball added 20 points and eight assists. The Hornets out-rebounded the Nets 50-38 and shot the lights out, shooting 53.3% from the field (on 90 attempts) and 47.2% from long range (on 36 attempts).
For the first time in their franchise’s history, the Hornets had two rookies in that opening-night starting lineup: 2025 No. 5 overall pick Kon Knueppel and No. 34 pick Ryan Kalkbrenner. Knueppel put up 11 points (4-6 FG, 3-4 3PT) with five rebounds and an assist. Kalkbrenner put up 10 points (5-6 FG) and grabbed 11 boards, five on the offensive end.
So, both teams are coming into Saturday night with young talent looking to build on their debuts and their squads hoping to start their campaigns with a 2-0 record. It should be a good one in South Philadelphia.
The Sixers and Hornets tip off at 7:30 p.m. ET.
Game Details
When: Saturday, October 25, 7:30 p.m. ET
Where: Xfinity Mobile Arena, Philadelphia, PA
Watch: NBC Sports Philadelphia
Radio: 97.5 The Fanatic
Follow: @LibertyBallers
