NBA Schedule Release: LeBron James, Sixers on national TV 34 times

The bulk of the Philadelphia 76ers schedule includes the maximum of 34 national television dates, the NBA announced on Thursday.

With LeBron James and Jaylen Brown joining a core that includes Joel Embiid and Tyrese Maxey, the 76ers will have 10 games on Prime, 11 on Peacock with eight on NBC and three on NBC Sports Network, eight on ESPN and five on ABC. That’s the maximum number of national television games, the first time in franchise history the 76ers have reached that status.

The NBA earlier this week announced the Sixers’ opening game in New York against the Knicks on Oct. 20; the home opener on Oct. 22 against Cleveland; the NBA Cup opener on Oct. 30 against the Knicks; and the Christmas Day game in Los Angeles against the Lakers.

The Sixers’ NBA Cup games are against the Knicks, Nov. 6 in Cleveland, Nov. 25 vs. Miami and Nov. 27 at Indiana. NBA Cup knockout games are Dec. 4, 5, 8, 9 and 11. Regular-season games will be filled in for non-qualifiers on Dec. 6, 7 and 10.

The Sixers face 13 back-to-backs, down from 16 last year and 15 the year before. Four them are home/home back-to-backs and 10 feature at least one home game.

The schedule includes 13 weekend games in Philadelphia. January is the busiest month, with 16 games, nine of them at home. The Sixers also play 16 games in March, with nine on the road.

The 76ers play four intraconference, out-of-division teams four times each: Charlotte, Chicago, Indiana and Miami, sides that finished ninth, 10th, 12th and 14th in the Eastern Conference last year.

They meet the other six three times each, with two games in both Cleveland and Orlando.

The 76ers begin a five-game road trip in LA on Christmas, their usual holiday swing with the Xfinity Mobile Arena occupied.

They visit the Clippers Dec. 27, Sacramento Dec. 29, Phoenix Dec. 30 and a New Year’s Day game in Milwaukee. It’s the longest road trip of the season, with a four-game swing through Utah, Golden State, Portland and Denver in late March.

The longest homestand is a four-game run from Feb. 5 to 11 that includes Detroit, Boston, the Nets and Knicks. They then visit Oklahoma City and Dallas before hosting Phoenix on Feb. 17 to wrap up the first half of the season. The 2027 All-Star Game is Feb. 21 in Phoenix.

Among the dates of interest:

• The Sixers play the Knicks two times in the first 10 days of the season. The next two meetings are clustered, with a game in Philly on Feb. 11 and one at the Garden on Feb. 27. All four are nationally televised.

• Paul George’s return to Philadelphia comes Nov. 10 when Boston visits the XMA in a nationally televised game. Brown makes his return to Boston on Jan. 21. The teams that met in the first round of last year’s playoffs meet against Feb. 7 in Philly and March 7 in Boston in a Sunday matinee.

• Kelly Oubre Jr. makes his return to Philly with Indiana Nov. 15. LeBron faces his former Lakers mates — and former 76er Quentin Grimes — on March 4.