Sixers open season at home against Thunder

KEVIN DURANT may have left the Oklahoma City Thunder for greener pastures, but the Thunder still will have Russell Westbrook when they visit the Wells Fargo Center on Oct. 26 to open the Sixers' season.

The NBA released the 2016-17 schedule Thursday night.

Sixers fans will be able to see Joel Embiid, Ben Simmons, Dario Saric and company at home in five of the first six games as the team will host Atlanta, Orlando, Cleveland and Utah. LeBron James and the world champion Cavaliers will make their first visit on Saturday, Nov. 5. They also will come to town on Sunday, Nov. 27 for a 1 p.m. meeting.

Normally the team is saddled with a long West Coast trip during the Christmas holiday as Disney On Ice invades the Wells Fargo Center, but the Sixers will have just four road games during that stretch, when they play at Phoenix on Dec. 23, at Sacramento on Dec. 26, at Utah on Dec. 29, and finish the trip at Denver on Dec. 30.

The toughest stretch of the schedule occurs from Jan. 21 to Feb. 15, when the Sixers will play 10 of their 14 games on the road, including visits to Chicago, Dallas, San Antonio, Miami and Boston.

The Western Conference champion Golden State Warriors make their lone visit to Philly on Monday, Feb. 27. The team's second trip to the West Coast will be from March 9 to 14, when they'll meet Portland, the Clippers, the Lakers and the Warriors. The Lakers and second overall pick Brandon Ingram will make their only stop here on Friday, Dec. 16.

The team closes out the season with four of their last five games at home.

@BobCooney76

SCHEDULE

REGULAR SEASON

Wednesday, Oct. 26. . . Oklahoma City. . . 8:00

Saturday, Oct. 29. . . Atlanta. . . 1:00

Tuesday, Nov. 1. . . Orlando. . . 7:00

Wednesday, Nov. 2. . . @Charlotte. . . 7:00

Saturday, Nov. 5. . . Cleveland. . . 7:00

Monday, Nov. 7. . . Utah. . . 7:00

Wednesday, Nov. 9. . . @Indiana. . . 7:00

Friday, Nov. 11. . . Indiana. . . 7:00

Saturday, Nov. 12. . . @Atlanta. . . 7:30

Monday, Nov. 14. . . @Houston. . . 8:00

Wednesday, Nov. 16. . . Washington. . . 7:00

Thursday, Nov. 17. . . @Minnesota. . . 8:00

Saturday, Nov. 19. . . Phoenix. . . 7:30

Monday, Nov. 21. . . Miami. . . 7:00

Wednesday, Nov. 23. . . Memphis. . . 7:00

Friday, Nov. 25. . . Chicago. . . 7:30

Sunday, Nov. 27. . . Cleveland. . . 1:00

Monday, Nov. 28. . . @Toronto. . . 7:30

Wednesday, Nov. 30. . . Sacramento. . . 7:00

Friday, Dec. 2. . . Orlando. . . 7:00

Saturday, Dec. 3. . . Boston. . . 7:30

Monday, Dec. 5. . . Denver. . . 7:00

Tuesday, Dec. 6. . . @Memphis. . . 8:00

Thursday, Dec. 8. . . @New Orleans. . . 8:00

Sunday, Dec. 11. . . @Detroit. . . 6:00

Wednesday, Dec. 14. . . Toronto. . . 7:00

Friday, Dec. 16. . . L.A. Lakers. . . 8:00

Sunday, Dec. 18. . . Brooklyn. . . 6:00

Tuesday, Dec. 20. . . New Orleans. . . 7:00

Friday, Dec. 23. . . @Phoenix. . . 9:00

Monday, Dec. 26. . . @Sacramento. . . 10:30

Thursday, Dec. 29. . . @Utah. . . 9:00

Friday, Dec. 30. . . @Denver. . . 9:00

Tuesday, Jan. 3. . . Minnesota. . . 7:00

Friday, Jan. 6. . . @Boston. . . 7:30

Sunday, Jan. 8. . . @Brooklyn. . . 12:00

Wednesday, Jan. 11. . . New York. . . 7:00

Friday, Jan. 13. . . Charlotte. . . 7:00

Saturday, Jan. 14. . . @Washington. . . 8:00

Monday, Jan. 16. . . @Milwaukee. . . 3:30

Wednesday, Jan. 18. . . Toronto. . . 7:00

Friday, Jan. 20. . . Portland. . . 7:00

Saturday, Jan. 21. . . @Atlanta. . . 7:00

Tuesday, Jan. 24. . . L.A. Clippers. . . 7:00

Wednesday, Jan. 25. . . @Milwaukee. . . 8:00

Friday, Jan. 27. . . Houston. . . 7:00

Sunday, Jan. 29. . . @Chicago. . . 7:00

Wednesday, Feb. 1. . . @Dallas. . . 8:30

Thursday, Feb. 2. . . @San Antonio. . . 8:30

Saturday, Feb. 4. . . @Miami. . . 7:30

Monday, Feb. 6. . . @Detroit. . . 7:30

Wednesday, Feb. 8. . . San Antonio. . . 7:00

Thursday, Feb. 9. . . @Orlando. . . 7:00

Saturday, Feb. 11. . . Miami. . . 7:30

Monday, Feb. 13. . . @Charlotte. . . 7:00

Wednesday, Feb. 15. . . @Boston. . . 7:30

Sunday, Feb. 19. . . All-Star Game (TBA)

Friday, Feb. 24. . . Washington. . . 7:00

Saturday, Feb. 25. . . @New York. . . 7:30

Monday, Feb. 27. . . Golden State. . . 7:00

Wednesday, March 1. . . @Miami. . . 7:30

Friday, March 3. . . New York. . . 7:00

Saturday, March 4. . . Detroit. . . 6:00

Monday, March 6. . . Milwaukee. . . 7:00

Thursday, March 9. . . @Portland. . . 10:00

Saturday, March 11. . . @L.A. Clippers. . . 3:30

Sunday, March 12. . . @L.A. Lakers. . . 9:30

Tuesday, March 14. . . @Golden State. . . 10:30

Friday, March 17. . . Dallas. . . 7:00

Sunday, March 19. . . Boston. . . 1:00

Monday, March 20. . . @Orlando. . . 7:00

Wednesday, March 22. . . @Oklahoma City. . . 8:00

Friday, March 24. . . @Chicago. . . 8:00

Sunday, March 26. . . @Indiana. . . 6:00

Tuesday, March 28. . . @Brooklyn. . . 7:30

Wednesday, March 29. . . Atlanta. . . 7:00

Friday, March 31. . . @Cleveland. . . 7:30

Sunday, April 2. . . @Toronto. . . 6:00

Tuesday, April 4. . . Brooklyn. . . 7:00

Thursday, April 6. . . Chicago. . . 7:00

Saturday, April 8. . . Milwaukee. . . 7:00

Monday, April 10. . . Indiana. . . 7:00

Wednesday, April 12. . . @New York. . . 8:00

End Regular Season