Sixers to open season in Portland

PHILADELPHIA, PA – The Sixers will tip-off the 2011-12 regular season with a five-game road trip beginning on Monday, December 26 at Portland before making their home debut at Wells Fargo Center on Friday, January 6 vs. Detroit at 7 p.m.  The full schedule consists of 66 games and tickets will go on sale Friday, December 9, 2011.

This will mark the most consecutive road games the Sixers have ever started a season with.  The previous high was three games set in 1971-72 (3-0 mark) and 1999-00 (0-3 mark).  Ironically, the Sixers will also close the 2011-12 season with five straight on the road, with the finale at Detroit on Thursday, April 26.

The Sixers will play their first four home games over a span of five days from January 6 – 10.  The team has 13 home games in January and will play seven in a row at Wells Fargo Center from January 23 – February 3.  In fact, over a 36-day span from January 6 – February 10, Philly will play 18 out of 22 games at home, which is well over half of its entire home schedule.

The 2011-12 home schedule features several fan- and family-friendly dates, including 12 Friday night dates, four Saturday night games, one Sunday night game and a special 2 p.m. tip-off against the Milwaukee Bucks on Martin Luther King Jr. Day (Monday, January 16).

Different this year, in this shortened season, the Sixers will not visit all teams in the league at their arenas and not all NBA teams will visit the Wells Fargo Center. Fortunately, Sixers fans will have the opportunity this season to see the youthful Philadelphia 76ers, under the inspired leadership of head coach Doug Collins, play some of their most exciting rivals at home. Some of these games include: The Miami Heat on Friday, February 3 and Friday, March 16; the Los Angeles Lakers on Monday, February 6; the Boston Celtics on Wednesday, March 7 and Friday, March 23; and the World Champion Dallas Mavericks on Friday, February 17th.

Six home games will air nationally on ESPN (Friday, March 2 vs. Golden State; Sunday, March 4 vs. Chicago; Friday, March 16 vs. Miami; Wednesday, March 21 vs. New York; Friday, March 23 vs. Boston; Saturday, April 7 vs. Orlando).  An additional three games are slated to appear on NBATV.

The Sixers have 16 sets of back-to-back games this season along with two back-to-back-to-back sessions (January 9 – 11 and April 16 – 18).

Of the Sixers final 25 games, all but one will come against an Eastern Conference opponent (Sunday, March 25 at San Antonio).