NBA releases schedule for Sixers' 1st-round series originally appeared on NBC Sports Philadelphia
The 2020-21 Sixers' playoff run will begin Sunday afternoon at Wells Fargo Center.
After the Lakers' play-in tournament win late Wednesday night (early Thursday morning on the East Coast), the NBA released schedules for each of its first-round series. The Sixers will tip off Sunday at 1 p.m. ET.
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The No. 8 seed still needs to be determined in each conference. The winner of Grizzlies-Warriors will play the Jazz in Round 1, while the winner of a Thursday night matchup between the Pacers and Wizards will face the Sixers.
Here's the schedule for that series, with all times to be decided besides for Games 1 and 2.
The Sixers won all three regular-season games they played against Washington. They went 2-1 against Indiana, with a handful of key players out for both teams in the Pacers' May 11 victory.
After clinching the Eastern Conference's top seed, the Sixers rested every one of their usual starters in their regular-season finale Sunday, a win over the Magic highlighted by a 30-point night from rookie Tyrese Maxey. The team held practices Tuesday and Wednesday and will have Thursday off before beginning preparation for its Round 1 opponent.
The practices have been competitive, according to Danny Green.
"Today was a good one, going at each other," Green said Wednesday. "Sometimes you need that. When guys are going at each other, that helps build the chemistry and the bond becomes stronger. The last couple days, guys have been at each other a little bit when we’re playing. We’ve had a chance to go up and down, which we haven’t been able to do in a while. I think that’s good for the chemistry.
"Even though it may seem like we need to take a step back and not compete with each other so much because we’re all on the same team, I think it’s needed. I think it’s necessary, and I think it’ll only help us be stronger moving forward. We still have a couple days left. We’ll see who comes out and prepare for them once we find out. But during that time, take care of our bodies and have a chance to be crisp offensively and defensively.”
Sixers head coach Doc Rivers said Tuesday he saw "slippage" in multiple areas over the final month of the regular season. He wants his team to make sharper cuts, "clean up our execution offensively" and play better transition defense.
Starting Sunday, the stakes will rise for the Sixers.
