The Philadelphia 76ers entered the 2022-23 NBA season with championship aspirations. After adding P.J. Tucker, De'Anthony Melton, Danuel House Jr. and Montrezl Harrell this offseason, they appeared to be on the short listof legitimate title contenders.

Season-opening losses to the Boston Celtics (126-117) on Tuesday and Khris Middleton-less Milwaukee Bucks (90-88) on Thursday sent the Sixers crashing back to earth a bit. But despite their 0-2 start, it's far too early to panic about their legitimacy as a contender this year.

If anything, those two close losses showed more signs of hope than reasons for despair.

It's unfair to call either game a "schedule loss," as the Sixers had plenty of chances to win both. Their turnovers and lackluster transition defense caused their downfall at Boston, while their lack of offensive cohesion plagued them against Milwaukee. Those foibles are understandable given the circumstances, though.

Four of the Sixers players who saw floor time against Boston and Milwaukee are new to Philadelphia this year, while the Celtics and Bucks largely brought back the same key pieces. Malcolm Brogdon and Noah Vonleh were the only new Celtics players to play more than eight minutes on Tuesday, and every Bucks rotation player was in Milwaukee last year, too.