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Sixers Land on NBA’s Christmas Day Slate in 2022

Every year, the NBA puts some of the league’s most popular teams on its Christmas Day slate. For the Philadelphia 76ers, they've found themselves playing on the

Justin Grasso

Sixers Land on NBA’s Christmas Day Slate in 2022
Sixers Land on NBA’s Christmas Day Slate in 2022 /
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Every year, the NBA puts some of the league’s most popular teams on its Christmas Day slate. For the Philadelphia 76ers, they've found themselves playing on the big day just a couple of seasons ago.

During the 2019-2020 run, the Sixers hosted the Milwaukee Bucks in South Philly on Christmas afternoon. It was the first of three matchups between the Sixers and the Bucks that season.

Although Philadelphia struggled against Milwaukee that year during their regular season series against one another, the Christmas Day matchup was a shining moment for the Sixers as they defeated Milwaukee 121-109 on their home court.

Since that matchup, a lot has changed for the Sixers. Not only did they move on from the head coach Brett Brown, who they’ve replaced with Doc Rivers, but just two of the players from that roster’s starting lineup remain on the 76ers, in Joel Embiid and Tobias Harris.

After going the last two years without a game on the Christmas slate, the Sixers are back in the lineup. According to Shams Charania of The Athletic, the Sixers are set to face the New York Knicks on Christmas Day for one of their four regular season battles next season.

As always, the Sixers and the Knicks aren’t alone on Christmas. In addition to that matchup, the Bucks and the Boston Celtics will battle it out as the other Eastern Conference matchup. Meanwhile, the Western Conference will have six teams playing on Christmas.

The Phoenix Suns will face the Denver Nuggets, while the Los Angeles Lakers pay a visit to the Dallas Mavericks. And lastly, the Memphis Grizzlies will face the defending NBA Champions, the Golden State Warriors. 

Justin Grasso covers the Philadelphia 76ers for All76ers, a Sports Illustrated channel. You can follow him for live updates on Twitter: @JGrasso_.

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Justin Grasso
JUSTIN GRASSO

Title: Credentialed writer/reporter covering the Philadelphia 76ers for Sports Illustrated’s FanNation Email: JustinGrasso32@Gmail.com Location: Philadelphia, PA Expertise: Reporting, insight, and analysis on the Sixers and the NBA  Justin Grasso is a credentialed writer and publisher covering the Philadelphia 76ers for Sports Illustrated’s FanNation.  Grasso got his start in sports media in 2016 with FantasyPros, working the news desk, providing game-by-game player analysis and updates on the Portland Trail Blazers and the Golden State Warriors. By 2017, he joined FanSided’s Philadelphia Eagles site as a staff writer. After spending one season covering the Eagles as a staff writer, Grasso was promoted to become the site’s Co-Editor. For the next two NFL seasons, he covered the Eagles closely before broadening his NFL coverage. For a brief stint, Grasso covered the NFL on a national basis after joining Heavy.com as an NFL news desk writer. In 2019, Grasso joined the 76ers' beat on a part-time basis, stepping into a role with South Jersey’s 97.3 ESPN. Ahead of the 2019-2020 NBA season, he concluded a three-year stint covering the Eagles and joined the Sixers beat full-time. Grasso has covered the 76ers exclusively since then for Sports Illustrated. He is a member of the Pro Basketball Writer’s Association.  Twitter: @JGrasso_ Instagram: @JGrassoNBA

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