What history says about the Sixers’ chance to spoil Knicks’ banner night

What history says about the Sixers’ chance to spoil Knicks’ banner night originally appeared on NBC Sports Philadelphia

The Sixers’ most anticipated opener in years will begin with a reminder of how last season ended.

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Five months after sweeping Philadelphia out of the playoffs, the Knicks will receive their rings and raise their first championship banner since 1973.

LeBron James, Jaylen Brown and the rest of the Sixers’ new lineup will then attempt to interrupt the celebration.

Philadelphia will then face a challenge that has historically favored the team holding the celebration.

Defending champions have gone 63-16 in their first home game the following season, according to an NBC Sports Philadelphia review of NBA game logs dating to 1947. They have won 79.7% of those games with an average point differential of plus-8.1.

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Banner night was not always Opening Night. Before the 2000s, champions sometimes began the season with several road games. For this review, NBC Sports Philadelphia used the defending champion’s first home game of the following season.

Because documentation of early championship ceremonies is incomplete, the review uses each defending champion’s first home game as the consistent historical comparison.

The 2020 Lakers split their celebration. They received their rings before their home opener but waited until fans returned later that season to unveil the banner.

The overall trend has continued in the modern NBA.

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Defending champions have gone 23-7 over the last 30 seasons. They have outscored their opponents by an average of 6.3 points.

The seven visitors that won were the 1998-99 Atlanta Hawks, 2000-01 Utah Jazz, 2002-03 San Antonio Spurs, 2006-07 Chicago Bulls, 2011-12 Miami Heat, 2017-18 Houston Rockets and 2020-21 Los Angeles Clippers.

All seven made the playoffs.

Four reached at least the conference finals. The Spurs and Heat won the championship. Houston came within one victory of the Finals in 2018. The Clippers reached the Western Conference finals for the first time in franchise history in 2021.

The same pattern extends beyond the last 30…

Source link : https://sports.yahoo.com/articles/history-says-sixers-chance-spoil-192200711.html

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Publish date : 2026-10-18 19:22:00

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