Sixers-Nets Game 1 will be first game of NBA postseason originally appeared on NBC Sports Philadelphia
NEW YORK — The Sixers will host the very first game of the 2023 NBA playoffs.
The team will face Brooklyn on Saturday at 1 p.m. ET to begin the first round, the league said. The game will be broadcast on NBC Sports Philadelphia as well as ESPN. The full series schedule has yet to be announced.
Here are the next three games on the opening day of the postseason:
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Celtics vs. No. 7 seed, 3:30 p.m. ET
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Cavs vs. Knicks, 6 p.m. ET
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Kings vs. Warriors, 8:30 p.m. ET
The Sixers have yet to face the post-trade deadline version of the Nets at home. Because of the deal that sent Kevin Durant to the Suns and brought Mikal Bridges and Cameron Johnson to Brooklyn, that’s a dramatically different team. Former Sixers All-Star Ben Simmons also won’t hear any (on-court) boos; after playing 42 games in his first season as a Net, he’s been sidelined since mid-February with a back injury and was officially ruled out for the year last month.
In Brooklyn’s first game after the deadline, the Sixers came back for a tight win over the Nets, thanks in large part to the Joel Embiid-James Harden duo scoring 66 of their 101 points. The Sixers wrapped up a regular-season series sweep on Sunday afternoon with a blowout win at Barclays Center. The majority of both teams’ rotations sat out.
“I think they’re a good team,” Paul Reed said after a 17-point, 10-rebound, five-block day. “They switch a lot. I feel like I can use that to my advantage with the way I play. Today, they didn’t really have their full roster, so we didn’t get their best look.
“The times we’ve played them previously, we’ve been able to handle them pretty well. I think we’ve got the better team, to be honest, so we should be able to come out and get the win.”
When the Sixers and Nets matched up in the 2019 playoffs, Brooklyn took Game 1 in Philadelphia despite Jimmy Butler’s 36 points, which frustrated the home fans.
“If you’re going to boo, then stay on that side,” Simmons said postgame.
The Sixers will hope Game 1 is more pleasant in 2023.
