Can the Sixers beat healthy, elite teams? This might be the week we find out. | David Murphy

Over the last two seasons, the Clippers are 16-12 when Kawhi Leonard is not a member of the starting lineup. That’s not a bad record. Over 82 games, it equates to about 47 wins, which last season would have been good enough for a top four seed in either conference. But it’s also 10 fewer wins than the Clippers’ rate with Leonard in the lineup: Since he joined the club two offseasons ago, L.A. has won at a .706 clip (72-30) when he is in uniform, which amounts to 57 wins in an 82-game season.

I bring all of this up in relation to the Sixers because the Sixers played the Clippers on Friday night, and the Clippers did not have Kawhi Leonard. And while the standings may not dock them partial credit for their 106-103 win, the long-term implications of that win are very much open to interpretation.

Without Leonard — and Patrick Beverley and Serge Ibaka — are the Clippers really a radically different team from the Hornets or the Knicks or the Magic or the Bulls or any of the other Eastern Conference also-rans that the Sixers have consistently dominated this season? And, if the answer is “no,” then what do we really know about the long-term viability of the Sixers apart from the fact that they are better than an also-ran team?

It’s a strange question, and also a fair one. On the one hand, the Sixers have played more than 75% of their schedule, and they carry a sparkling record of 39-17. They have an MVP candidate at center, and a team defensive rating that ranks second in the league, and a coach who has a strong case to make for the league’s annual Coach of the Year Award.

Yet, apart from a win over LeBron James and Anthony Davis and the defending champion Lakers and another against the Jazz, good luck finding a victory that you can portray as reflecting the championship potential of this Sixers team. Given the Celtics’ recent resurgence, we should probably count their manhandling of Boston a couple of weeks ago. Beyond that? There’s nothing.

Heading into Monday night’s game against the 28-29 Warriors, the Sixers are 14-12 against teams who entered Sunday with a winning record. But of their 14 wins, eight came on nights where their opponent was missing at least one of their top two or three players. A quick rundown of the stars that they’ve dodged should underscore the hollow nature of such victories.

Take the Celtics. While the Sixers beat Boston once at full-strength, they beat them two other times when Jayson Tatum was on the bench. Their wins over the Mavericks were entertaining, but Dallas was missing Kristaps Porzingis in both of them. They’ve beaten the Nets twice, but they have yet to beat Kevin Durant or James Harden once. One of their two wins against the Lakers came on a night when James and Davis were on the bench. Like Leonard’s on Saturday, these are absences that you cannot ignore.

Not that the Sixers are at fault. Injuries have been a major focal point as the NBA grinds its way through its compressed 72-game schedule. Leonard, Harden, Durant, Embiid — all have missed time with seemingly legitimate injuries.

“It sounds like not that big of a deal, but when you are getting in at three in the morning and you’re getting up at seven or eight back in your car and then going to sleep — I think all that probably plays a role in it,” Sixers coach Doc Rivers said. “And then, sometimes it’s just one of those years. I’m not smart enough to figure out injuries, but there are a lot.”

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It might be out of the Sixers’ control, but that doesn’t change the fact that it is less than ideal. As good as they have played, as fun as they have been to watch, as amped up as everybody should be about the prospect of entering the playoffs as the Eastern Conference’s No. 1 seed, we still — STILL! — know very little about them.

There’s a chance that we learn more in the four games they will play this week than we did in the first 56 combined. On Wednesday, they get a rematch with the 40-14 Suns, who posted an eye-opening 120-111 win over the fully healthy Sixers back on Feb. 13. On Friday and Sunday, they’ll look to avenge an earlier loss to the Bucks. This time, presumably, they’ll have Joel Embiid.

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It isn’t much to go on, but it’s more than we’ve got. The Sixers have spent the season both dodging and being dodged — apart from the loss to the Suns, and one against the Blazers, they’re as short on marquee losses as they are on wins. The Hawks beat them when they were missing three starters. The Nuggets beat them twice without Embiid. Same goes for their losses to the Nets and the Bucks, and two to the Grizzlies. Of the 24 games that the Sixers have fielded their complete starting lineup, they’ve won all but four.

But, then, what does that tell us? Nets are 19-3 with James Harden and Kyrie Irving, 7-1 with Harden and Durant, and 5-1 when they have all three. The Bucks are 27-11 when they start either Jrue Holiday or since-departed DJ Augustin alongside Giannis Antetokounmpo, Dante DiVincenzo, Khris Middleton, and Brooke Lopez. Two of those losses came against the Celtics, who also have a win against the Heat when both Jimmy Butler and Bam Adebayo were in the lineup (the duo missed both of Miami’s losses to the Sixers). In fact, the Celtics entered Sunday having beaten the Nuggets, the Blazers, the Lakers, and the Warriors while winning eight of their last nine. But, then, it’s also a fact that their one loss came to the Sixers.

So, what do we know? Hopefully a lot less than we will in the near future. At the moment, the East is wide open. Perhaps this is the week when all of the stars will play.