On Friday, the Sixers will be back in their practice facility after earning a true off day with a thrilling comeback victory over the Boston Celtics on Wednesday night to begin the 2025-26 season.
Their preparation for Boston was a bit unusual; no game for the remainder of the regular season will feature that much work specific to an opponent (the Sixers and Celtics will face off twice more in the next few weeks, so those extra days will come in handy).
But beginning with Saturday night's home opener, the Sixers will be on a normal schedule, where no game is a novelty like one on opening night.
Every week during the 2025-26 Sixers season – typically on a Thursday, Friday or Saturday – we will preview what is ahead in the week to come for the team, from unique opposing players to matchups worth watching and everything in between. These weekly previews will come in addition to our frequent team-specific Q&As with reporters covering Sixers opponents. Let's get started:
vs. Charlotte Hornets (Saturday, 7:30 p.m.)
Most are not expecting the Hornets to contend for playoff contention in 2025-26, but in a barren Eastern Conference they have the upside to at least be in the race for a Play-In Tournament spot should they stay healthy. They are reaching a crossroads with LaMelo Ball, who enters his sixth NBA season with an enormous number of jaw-dropping highlights and impressive numbers, but with a lengthy injury history and not much winning, the clock on Ball has to start ticking eventually.
Ball is far from the only important young piece in Charlotte; former No. 2 overall pick Brandon Miller missed much of last season but is now a full go. Miller torched the Sixers last season, and could present problems as a tall wing with real scoring chops. His three-point volume was enormous last year before injury (10.9 three-point attempts per game), and he posted 25 points to go with seven rebounds in Charlotte's resounding victory over the lowly Brooklyn Nets on opening night.
Another player of interest is Kon Knueppel, whose name was often linked to the Sixers leading up to the 2025 NBA Draft in June. The Sixers should be thrilled to have landed VJ Edgecombe at No. 3 overall, and by the sounds of it the Hornets are similarly excited to have ended up with Knueppel at No. 4. Edgecombe and Knueppel are polar opposites as prospects, but both have the chance to become outstanding NBA players.
If Joel Embiid is capable of turning in a dominant performance, it very well might come against a Charlotte center rotation that is, at best, a makeshift group. Rookie second-rounder Ryan Kalkbrenner started on opening night and posted a double-double. Moussa Diabaté, a tremendous hustle player listed at just 210 pounds, backed him up. Veteran Mason Plumlee could also be in the mix against Embiid.
vs. Orlando Magic (Monday, 7:00 p.m.)
This will be the Sixers' toughest test by far during their first stretch of games in the regular season. Orlando should contend for a top seed in the Eastern Conference after adding sharpshooter Desmond Bane to a core already including star wings Paolo Banchero and Franz Wagner.
Orlando gave up a massive haul of first-round picks to get Bane from the Memphis Grizzlies, and some were turned off by the sticker price for a non-star. But Bane is one of the single best non-stars in the NBA and could not be a better fit to provide what the Magic have sorely lacked offensively while not subtracting from their tremendous defensive identity.
In prior years, Banchero and Wagner did enough scoring and creation to keep Orlando from being at the very bottom of the league in offense despite brutal three-point shooting, while the Magic posted elite defensive numbers to stay afloat. Now, there is actual offensive upside here in addition to what should remain one of the league's best defensive units.
The key to stifling Orlando's offense will remain bottling up Wagner and Banchero, though. It figures to be a critical game for Sixers frontcourt pieces; Kelly Oubre Jr. and Dominick Barlow could draw those defensive assignments to begin the action. Barlow some useful experience against Orlando; his 75 career minutes against the Magic is his fifth-highest total against any NBA team. This would be a good test of Justin Edwards' ability to guard up if he works his way back into the rotation by then.
Orlando has some very talented perimeter defenders; Jalen Suggs leads the pack and should have the Tyrese Maxey assignment. That matchup could be appointment viewing.
@ Washington Wizards (Tuesday, 7:00 p.m.)
Washington is the second-youngest team in the NBA entering the season, and their ambitions in 2025-26 are all geared toward their long-term future, not winning games in the present. The Sixers cannot look past the Wizards or anybody else, but on the second night of the Sixers' first back-to-back of the season, it is difficult to imagine Embiid playing in this game.
- MORE SIXERS
- Friday film: Dissecting the good and bad of the Sixers' win in Boston on opening night
- Non-Sixers predictions for the 2025-26 NBA season
- Is Quentin Grimes here to stay, and do the Sixers have enough three-point shooting?
Among Wizards youngsters to know: Alex Sarr, last year's No. 2 overall pick. Sarr has a long way to go to reach his potential, but a floor-spacing, rim-protecting center is in there somewhere. Kyshawn George might be the best prospect the average NBA fan has not heard of; his rookie numbers were pedestrian on the whole but his flashes of two-way value on the wing were extremely impressive.
Between it being the first back-to-back of the season and the Wizards being among the NBA's least challenging opponents, do not be surprised if some key players log fewer minutes than usual on Tuesday in the nation's capital.
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