The Celtics are reportedly set to host the 76ers on Christmas Day

BOSTON — Christmas is the season for giving, and the NBA is giving us one of its oldest rivalries on the league's biggest day this year. Jayson Tatum, Jaylen Brown and the defending NBA champion Boston Celtics will host the Philadelphia 76ers at TD Garden on Christmas Day, according to Shams Charania of The Athletic.

Matchups between the Celtics and 76ers are usually very exciting, but this year's Christmas Day clash should be a little more exciting after the 76ers signed Paul George as a free agent to join franchise star Joel Embiid and rising star Tyrese Maxey. Philadelphia basketball president Darryl Morrey added fuel to the fire when he said the 76ers are not far off the current champion and will take the title away from them in 2024-25.

It's been a bit one-sided lately, as Boston has had Philly in its grasp for the past few years. The Celtics won three of four regular-season games in each of the last two seasons, and also overcame a 3-2 deficit against the 76ers in the 2022-23 Eastern Conference semifinals. The 76ers won all three regular-season games in 2020-21 and took three of four in 2019-20, but in between was a Celtics sweep of Philly in the first round of the playoffs in the NBA bubble in Orlando.

Philadelphia is Boston's second biggest rival after the Los Angeles Lakers. The duels date back to the days of Bill Russell and Wilt Chamberlain, when the 76ers were still known as the Warriors. The two teams first met in 1949 and Boston had an overall record of 336-247 against Philadelphia.

This will be the ninth consecutive season the Celtics have appeared on the NBA's big day. They have won five of their last eight Christmas Day games, including last year when the C's defeated LeBron James and the Lakers in Los Angeles. The Celtics and 76ers last met on Christmas Day 2018 in Boston, when a 40-point performance from Kyrie Irving led the C's to a 121-114 victory.

According to Charania, the NBA's Christmas Day 2024 schedule also includes the San Antonio Spurs at the New York Knicks, the Minnesota Timberwolves at the Dallas Mavericks, the Los Angeles Lakers at the Golden State Warriors and the Denver Nuggets at the Phoenix Suns.

The full 2024-25 NBA schedule is expected to be released in the next few weeks.