Welcome back to our in-depth schedule preview for the Sixers’ 2026-27 season (here’s a look back at part one and part two). Part three will be picking the schedule back up in the middle of January and stretching through the beginning of March. It’s another spread out part of the season as it contains the trade deadline and the All-Star break.
It’s a 20-game stretch that contains three back-to-backs, with most of the travel being short trips to the middle of the country. It starts with one of the biggest road trips of the season, shipping up to Boston to take on the Celtics on January 21. Jaylen Brown will have already played his former team once, but all eyes will be on him when he plays in TD Garden as an opposing player for the first time (in the regular season at least, the Sixers are also scheduled to play in Boston in the preseason.) Unsurprisingly, that game will be on national television.
It’s a bit of a wonky two-game trip as they’ll head over to Chicago for a game on the 23rd, but the Bulls should present a much easier opponent. They’ll get two more games at home against opponents that should be easier games in the Clippers and Kings before hitting the road again, this time for a back-to-back against the Pelicans and Heat.
By this point in the season, how the Sixers stagger their stars in back-to-backs will be clear, but this looks like one where they can play everyone in Miami and feel confident about that Pelicans game as well. Of course how healthy the team is generally will dictate those decisions as well.
They’ll get their fill of the Pelicans that week, playing them again at home on February 1, then they’ll wrap up their series with the Grizzlies on the 3rd. That trip to Memphis is sandwiched between five games at home, and tricky ones at that.
The Pistons come to town on the 5th, then another nationally televised matchup against the Celtics on the 7th. Things lighten up only a bit when they take on the Brooklyn Nets on the 8th, before the defending champion New York Knicks play Philly on the 11th.
February 11 also marks the trade deadline, so that’ll be a big day in several areas for the team. Not only should those three games be a pretty big measuring stick for the team, but it’ll be their last day to make significant in-season changes to the roster.
Life doesn’t get much easier as the Sixers’ next game will be in Oklahoma City on the 13th. After the Thunder they’ll just have to get through the Mavericks on the road and the Suns at home before getting to the All-Star Break.
After the time off and hopefully some participation in All-Star Weekend, the Sixers start one of their lightest road trips in terms of travel, albeit with two tough opponents. They’ll start the unofficial second half of the season in Brooklyn on the 25th before wrapping up their season series with the Knicks on the 27th at MSG. That sound you heard is every traveling Sixers beat reporter celebrating such a convenient trip. They’ll wrap up the trip with a flight to Cleveland, wrapping up that season series on March 1.
This stretch of games concludes with a home back-to-back against the Hornets and Lakers. Those certainly aren’t the two hardest opponents listed but with the lack of rest it won’t be an easy one either. This stretch of games will tell the Sixers a lot about how they stack up with the rest of the Eastern Conference and for the most part, they’ll be well rested enough to show it.
1/21: @Celtics
1/23: @Bulls
1/25: V Clippers
1/27: V Kings
1/28: @Pelicans (B2B)
1/30: @Heat
2/1: V Pelicans
2/3: @Grizzlies
2/5:V Pistons
2/7: V Celtics
2/8: V Nets (B2B)
2/11: V Knicks (Trade deadline)
2/13: @Thunder
2/15: @Mavericks
2/17: V Suns (ASB)
2/25: @Nets
2/27: @Knicks
3/1: @Cavs
3/3: V Hornets
3/ 4: V Lakers (B2B)
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