Sixers face a Christmas Day test against defending champion Boston Celtics

BOSTON — Christmas Day will conclude a stretch that served as a barometer for the 76ers.

They are in Beantown to face the Boston Celtics in a 5 p.m. tilt at TD Garden (6abc, ESPN). The marquee game will wrap a three-game stretch that started with Saturday’s road game against the Cleveland Cavaliers and Monday’s home game vs. the San Antonio Spurs.

The Sixers (10-17) have had mixed results in those games. They suffered their worst loss of the season to the NBA’s first-place Cavs (26-4) before beating the emerging Spurs (15-14).

» READ MORE: Should Joel Embiid call it quits this season? Looking at all that ails, it’s a fair question.

Now, they’ll see how they stack up against the defending NBA champion Celtics (22-7) on the biggest regular-season day of the year.

Aside from their 126-99 loss to Cleveland, the Sixers have been one of the league’s hottest teams lately, having won seven of 10 games. But only two of those victories — Monday’s 111-106 decision over San Antonio and a 102-94 home win over the Orlando Magic on Dec. 6 — came against winning teams. The other five were against the 13-17 Chicago Bulls, the 13-17 Detroit Pistons, the 7-22 Charlotte Hornets (three times).

And the Sixers are about to face a major uptick in talent. Returning their core players, most notably All-Star wings Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown, the Celtics are favored to defend their title.

But coach Nick Nurse believes that Monday’s victory could give the Sixers some momentum against their Atlantic Division rivals.

Thanks to Tyrese Maxey, the Sixers still managed to win after Joel Embiid was ejected with 2 minutes, 59 seconds left in the first half after voicing his displeasure to referee Jenna Schroeder over a foul call. Maxey scored eight of the Sixers’ final 11 points and finished with game highs of 32 points and 10 rebounds to go with eight assists and three steals.

“It seems like the strangeness of the season keeps working its way into things,” Nurse said. “Over the last 10 or 12 games, we’ve played well in most of them. Whatever happens, we just keep on going, and we ended up losing three guys [against the Spurs] in the end, Joel, [Andre Drummond], and KJ [Martin], both were out of the game late.”

» READ MORE: Sixers rally after Joel Embiid’s ejection to defeat San Antonio Spurs behind Tyrese Maxey’s 32 points

As a result, the Sixers went to a small-ball lineup with Guerschon Yabusele at center. The 6-foot-8, 280-pounder matched Spurs 7-3 standout center Victor Wembanyama’s minutes in the second half.

“That was kind of the only big we had left,” Nurse said. “We almost went to [Adem] Bona a couple of times too, but they kind of went so small, so we decided to stay small.”

Embiid will return against the Celtics. Drummond, the backup center, is listed as questionable with a sprained left toe. However, Martin, who started the last four games, will be sidelined around two weeks with a stress reaction in his left foot.

Meanwhile, Tatum (non-COVID illness), guard Jrue Holiday (right shoulder impingement), and Derrick White (right hamstring tightness) are listed as questionable for the Celtics.

But players may say playing on Christmas is exciting, regardless of who’s available.

“I mean, it’s great,” Paul George said. “It’s great to be a marquee game on that day, to play on that day, in general. It’s an honor, and you appreciate those moments.

“Those are the games you look back on, my kids will have memories from. That’s where you appreciate, because as a kid, I remember, growing up watching NBA games on Christmas Day, and now having an opportunity to play on Christmas Day, it’s definitely special.”

This will mark the third consecutive Christmas Day game and 35th overall for the Sixers.

They’re 19-15 on Christmas, but 0-2 against the Celtics on this day.