76ers Draw Another Christmas Day Matchup in 2023

The Philadelphia 76ers will be on one of the NBA’s most prominent stages once again next season. After facing the New York Knicks in the Big Apple on Christmas Day last year, the Sixers are set to participate in a primetime matchup on the holiday once again, but this time they are headed down South.

According to Shams Charania of The Athletic, the Sixers will battle it out with the Miami Heat on December 25, 2023. The matchup will feature the league’s reigning MVP, Joel Embiid facing his good friend in former Sixer, Jimmy Butler.

Since Butler landed in Miami, the Heat and the Sixers have had their fair share of battles. In 2019-2020, the Heat won three of their four battles against the Sixers. During the 2020-2021 season, the Sixers won the series 2-1. In 2021-2022, both teams split during the regular season, each winning twice and losing twice.

During the Sixers’ 2022 playoff run, they faced the Heat in the second round after knocking out the Toronto Raptors in six games. Unfortunately, the Sixers came up short against the Eastern Conference’s top-seeded Heat and lost in six games.

During the regular season last year, the Sixers and the Heat faced each other three times. Philadelphia struggled, losing twice and picking up just one dominant win against the Heat in early March.

Although the two teams didn’t meet in the playoffs once again, the Heat made their second-straight Eastern Conference Finals appearance to face the Boston Celtics, who knocked the 76ers out in the second round.

Miami won the rematch that time around and went to the 2023 NBA Finals. Unfortunately for them, their miraculous playoff run was cut short. Now, the Sixers and the Heat are both planning to continue to be one of the East’s top contenders once again next year. Their Christmas Day battle will be a good preview of what could come during the 2024 NBA Playoffs.