Nationally televised marquee matchups with Bucks and Nuggets highlight Sixers’ 2023-24 schedule

With James Harden threatening not to play under 76ers president Daryl Morey, will this be another NBA season of failed expectations in Philly?

We could get some idea by how the Sixers navigate their regular-season schedule that was announced Thursday by the NBA.

» READ MORE: Sixers guard James Harden says he wants to play a season in China

The Sixers’ season opens Oct. 26 at Eastern Conference favorite Milwaukee on TNT. Then they’ll head to Toronto for an Oct. 28 matchup against the Raptors. That game will be a homecoming for first-year Sixers coach Nick Nurse, who spent the last five seasons as Toronto’s coach.

The Sixers’ home opener will be Oct. 29 against the Portland Trail Blazers, which will jump-start a stretch featuring eight of nine games at home.

Both of the Sixers’ matchups against NBA champion Denver, featuring the league’s last two MVPS in Joel Embiid and Nuggets center Nikola Jokić, will be nationally televised.

The Sixers will entertain Denver on Jan. 16 on TNT and will visit the Nuggets on Jan. 27 (ABC). The Sixers will host the Houston Rockets on Martin Luther King Jr. Day on Jan. 15.

Those are some of the 29 Sixers games that will be nationally televised on ESPN, TNT, ABC or NBATV.

The Sixers will visit Miami on Christmas, joining other Dec. 25 games including Milwaukee at New York, Boston at the Los Angeles Lakers, Dallas at Phoenix, and Golden State at Denver.

The Sixers will open group play in the NBA’s inaugural in-season tournament on Nov. 10 at Detroit.

The team is a part of the Eastern Conference’s Group A along with the Cleveland Cavaliers, Indiana Pacers, and Atlanta Hawks. All 30 teams were randomly drawn into six groups of five within their conferences based on last season’s records. Games the week of Dec. 4 will be announced by the league following the conclusion of the group play stage of the in-season tourney.

» READ MORE: Sixers’ James Harden receives support from NBA players, China after remarks about Daryl Morey

Training camp begins on Oct. 3, with the Sixers likely training at a remote location for the second straight year. The 82-game regular season will conclude on April 14, 2024, when the Sixers play the Brooklyn Nets.

For the second straight season, no games are scheduled for Election Day (Nov. 7). All 30 teams will play on the final day of the regular season. Aiming for competitive fairness, the seven games between Eastern Conference teams will be played at 1 p.m. The seven games between Western teams will be at 3:30 p.m.

The Sixers will hope to have some resolution for the Harden situation.

The point guard informed the Sixers that he wanted to be traded on June 29 when he picked up the $35.6 million player option on his contract for the upcoming season. At the time, the Sixers’ second-best player made it known that he preferred to be shipped to the Los Angeles Clippers.

However, Morey informed his agent this past weekend that the team was unable to find a suitable deal and would keep Harden. On Monday, the point guard called Morey a “liar’ and said he would not play for him.