Sixers to Host Boston Celtics on Opening Night
The Philadelphia 76ers will open the 2019-2020 NBA season against their division rival, the Boston Celtics. The game will be in Philadelphia at the Wells Fargo Center at 7:30 pm on October 23rd on ESPN.
The game will be a rematch from last year’s season opener for the teams when the Celtics bested the Sixers, 105-87 in an ugly opening night in Boston.
This year, however, both the Sixers and Celtics will look drastically different. One of the most interesting storylines in this matchup will be surrounding Al Horford. The former Celtic will suit up in red, white, and blue against his former team on opening night.
In addition to Horford, quite a few other players will be new to the Sixers-Celtics rivalry.
The Celtics lost point guard Kyrie Irving, but replaced him with All-Star Kemba Walker. The Celtics also lost Terry Rozier and Marcus Morris, two players who seemed to have the Sixers number the past few seasons. However, they added 3 promising young rookies and veteran big man, Enes Kanter, to match up against Joel Embiid.
And of course, the Sixers have had quite the offseason themselves. In addition to Al Horford, the Sixers acquired Josh Richardson via the Jimmy Butler trade and signed a number of key bench players.
The Sixers have not had great success on the opening night of late. Many Sixer fans will remember back to 2014 when Lebron James and the Miami Heat were stunningly beaten by the Sixers on opening night. That night, eventual Rookie of the Year, Michael Carter-Williams had a near triple-double and the Wells Fargo Center was absolutely electric. This was the Sixers last victory on opening night.
The Celtics have, in contrast, been rather successful on opening nights recently. They are 4-1 in their last five, including last year’s win against the Sixers.
There will be plenty of intrigue surrounding this game and it could be a potential playoff preview, with both teams having high aspirations for the upcoming season. There are several intriguing matchups to watch with these teams and Sixers fans will certainly not want to miss this matchup come late October.
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