76ers Open Season To Greatest Expectations In Recent Memory

PHILADELPHIA, PA — When the 76ers took the court against the Washington Wizards on Wednesday night for their season opener, they were stepping into the most intense scrutiny to perform well which they've faced in years.

Although the Sixers ultimately dropped the matchup to the Wizards, 120-115, they battled hard throughout, and were in the game until the final seconds. Robert Covington led the way with 29 points, and Joel Embiid and Ben Simmons (in his NBA debut) each turned in 18 points.

The Wizards were an admittedly tough matchup for the opener. FiveThirtyEight projects the Wizards as the number two team in the Eastern Conference, and 11th in the West-dominated league. The Sixers, meanwhile, are slated at eighth in the East and 18th in the NBA.

A low playoff seed would seem to represent a ceiling of sorts for this year's Sixers. But anything less than a significant improvement over last year's 28-win season would have to be viewed as a failure for a franchise which has taken a very long road to return to postseason contention.

The era of rebuilding, trading for draft picks, trading for players that will later get traded for draft picks, and, in general, organizing the entire season around future draft picks, is widely considered to be over. For those efforts over the past several seasons, the 76ers have been rewarded with some of the most exciting young players in the game: Simmons could be a future superstar, while Embiid showed that he already is a star last season. And the Sixers also have the 2017 number one overall pick - Markelle Fultz - who didn't even start Wednesday night's opener.

The last truly great Sixers season may have been the 2002-03 season, in which they finished 48-34. They lost in the East semifinals that year.

While a repeat of that performance might be difficult this year, a return to the playoffs and a winning record is not out of the question. For the Sixers to grab a seven or eight seed in the East, the biggest thing they'll need to do is to stay healthy. Simmons missed the entire year last season with injuries, while Embiid has struggled with injuries since he was drafted. The talent to win now is undeniably there.

The Sixers next game is their home opener on Friday night against the Celtics. For tickets, see here.

Image via Michael Tipton, Flickr Commons