There might not be a better single day for a specific sport than Christmas for basketball. The NBA gives us 12-plus hours of hoops from a carefully curated group of the league's most interesting teams.

Joel Embiid and the Philadelphia 76ers happily played the "Grinch" role at TD Garden on Christmas Day. Amid plenty of boos from the Boston crowd,

Philadelphia 76ers star Joel Embiid fell to the parquet during warmups before Wednesday’s game against the Boston Celtics but remained in the starting lineup for the Christmas Day matchup

Joel Embiid popped up from a pregame fall and scored 27 points with nine rebounds, making 4 of 5 from 3-point range and sinking a pair of free throws with 3 seconds left to turn back Boston's final rally and lead the Philadelphia 76ers to a 118-114 victory on Wednesday.

This affiliate content is not influenced by our advertising relationships, but AP and Data Skrive might earn commissions from our partners’ links in this content.

The defending NBA champion Boston Celtics clash with the Philadelphia 76ers in a special Christmas Day matchup today. This game is available on multiple streaming services for free.

But Maxey zipped past Pritchard and found a clear lane to the basket, where he put in an off-balance layup just before time expired. The play all but finished off the Celtics in this 118-114 loss, and it was an example of the uncharacteristic missteps that doomed them.