A slow start from the Boston Celtics in their Christmas Day game against the Philadelphia 76ers left the Boston Celtics fighting an uphill battle and eventually consigned them to their eighth loss of the season.

For the first time in 2024-25, the Sixers faced off against the defending champion Boston Celtics on Wednesday evening — with the entire basketball world watching on Christmas Day. And while the Sixers had their very most critical players available,

Jayson Tatum was a significant absence for the Celtics. He was a late scratch due to illness, and Boston's lack of a genuine creator was felt throughout the night. Rather than their fluid ball and player movement,

It was only the second time in the past 40 years that Christmas and the start of Hanukkah fell on the same day.

For the 41st year in a row, the community came together to light a menorah on Boston Common for the Jewish festival of Hanukkah. “Light has a special quality,” said Rabbi Chaim Prus of Chabad of Downtown Boston,

Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas, top left, with others including Rabbi Levi Shemtov and Rabbi Abraham Shemtov, light the National Menorah in celebration of the first night of Hanukkah,