Sixers Release Schedule, Will Open Season Against Blazers on 26th

Well, the '11-12 season does mark the 35th anniversary of the '76-'77
season, so maybe it's not random that this year should start with a
finals rematch from that season. (Maybe.) The schedules for every NBA
team (Hey, the Sixers are one of those!) were released Tuesday night, and
the Sixers will open the season on the road in Portland, against
LaMarcus Aldridge and them Trailblazers, on the day after Christmas.
It's one of many notable dates Sixers fans can now put on their
calendars in semi-permanent marker. Others include:

Dec. 31st: For what feels like the 25th year in a row, the Sixers
play a mediocre West Coast team on New Years' Eve. This year, the boys
face off with the Warriors in California at 10:30 EST, unofficially
celebrating the New Year sometime around halftime.

Jan. 6th: The team finally returns to the WFC for their home opener
against the Detroit Pistons. The Ballers will likely be craving revenge
(or possibly just crab fries) after the Pistons defeated them in the
last game of the year in '11, ruining their chances at a plus-.500
season.

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Jan. 9th-14th: The Sixers play five games in six days, including a
home-and-home against the Wizards, a visit to the Knicks at MSG and the first of their two three-games-in-three-nights stretches. The
team will play a staggering 16 games over the course of 25 days in
January, an unfortunate (for them, at least) consequence of the
super-compacted 66-game season.

Feb. 3rd: The Heat revisit Philly for the first time since Lou
Williams' last-minute three sunk them in Game Four of the two teams'
first-round series—regrettably, the only time the Heat lost to the
Sixers in their eight total meetings last year. The WFC will be packed
(by WFC standards, anyway) for the Big Three and company's return
shortly after Groundhog Day.

Apr. 16-18: The Sixers play three in a row for the second and final time this season—against Orlando, Indiana and Cleveland, all of whom
will be somewhere between decent and abysmal this season. The Cleveland
game should be the easiest, but we'll see how the Ballers do at standing
upright in the fourth quarter before setting the line on that one.

Apr. 26: Philly finishes up its season (again) against the Pistons,
this time in Detroit. Let's hope the team is more than a game over .500
at this point so we don't have to go through the disappointment of
statistical mediocrity again. (Or I guess they could just go well under
and take the suspense out altogether. Their call.)