Philadelphia 76ers (0-1) at Milwaukee Bucks (0-1), 8:30 p.m. (ET)
(SportsNetwork.com) - The Philadelphia 76ers and Milwaukee Bucks, the two worst teams in the Eastern Conference last season, will meet Friday night at the Bradley Center.
The Bucks' home-opener Friday comes after a heart-breaking, 108-106 overtime loss Wednesday night in Charlotte against the Hornets.
The Bucks squandered a 24-point third-quarter cushion when Charlotte's Kemba Walker made a 3-pointer to tie the contest with 1.6 seconds left. Walker then won the game for the Hornets thanks to a jumper with 5.1 ticks on the clock.
Milwaukee, coming off a league-worst 15-67 campaign, played well for much of the night under new head coach Jason Kidd before wilting down the stretch.
Brandon Knight totaled 22 points, 13 assists and eight rebounds in a losing cause, with Khris Middleton and O.J. Mayo each tallying 17 points for the Bucks.
Larry Sanders and Giannis Antetokounmpo both finished with 10 points in defeat.
Jabari Parker had a quiet NBA debut, however, managing just eight points and four rebounds in 37 minutes in the Milwaukee rookie and former Duke star's return to the Carolinas.
"It was everything I expected, two great teams going down to the wire," Parker said. "The better team won today, but we're going to get better."
The Sixers, who owned the second-worst mark in the NBA last season, started the 2014-15 campaign with a 103-91 setback at Bankers Life Fieldhouse to the Indiana Pacers.
Philadelphia was without Michael Carter-Williams, the reigning Rookie of the Year, who is on the shelf after offseason shoulder surgery. Joel Embiid, taken third overall in June, has a foot injury and will most likely miss the season, and Dario Saric, who the team traded for on draft night, has a two-year contract overseas.
It looks like another long season ahead for the Sixers.
"We're not worried about what's on paper. They put the ball out there for a reason, to play 48 minutes," guard Tony Wroten said. "Every game, we come out to play hard and try to win."
Wroten ended with 22 points, eight boards, seven assists and three steals for the Sixers, who went 19-63 last season. Alexey Shved, who came to Philly in a deal for Thaddeus Young, tallied 18 points.
Nerlens Noel had six points, 10 rebounds and three blocks in his NBA debut. Noel was acquired on draft night in 2013 and sat all of last season to heal from a torn ACL.
The Bucks won two of three meetings against the Sixers last season, and have taken three in a row and six of the last seven as the host in this series.