The Boston Celtics wanted Kevin Garnett to play in at least one game before the playoffs. They'll now have to wait until the postseason to get their star big man back on the court.

Following one of their worst losses of the season, the Celtics face the struggling Philadelphia 76ers on Tuesday night in a matchup of teams that could meet in the first round.

Boston coach Doc Rivers decided Monday there was no point to bring back Garnett, who has missed 21 of the last 25 games with a strained right knee, for two meaningless contests.

The Celtics (60-20), who finish the regular season against Washington on Wednesday night, have wrapped up the No. 2 seed in the Eastern Conference.

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They had won six straight since shelving Garnett again, but lost 107-76 to East champion Cleveland on Sunday. It was Boston's most lopsided defeat in 173 games against the Cavaliers.

Garnett's health is integral to the Celtics' chances of getting past the Cavaliers in the East. His first playoff test could be versus the 76ers (40-40).

Philadelphia, Chicago and Detroit have the last three playoff spots in the East locked up, but they continue to battle for position. The seventh-place finisher will open the postseason against Boston.

Wherever the Sixers finish, they'll have a tough time advancing against one of the East's three powerhouses. Philadelphia seems particularly vulnerable now, having lost a season-high five straight.

The Sixers will conclude the regular season at Cleveland on Wednesday night, giving them a chance to see how they match up against the conference's top seeds. Philadelphia, though, is more concerned with trying to find some consistency.

"We don't want to measure ourselves right now, we just want to try to figure out how we're going to carry ourselves in the playoffs as a team," point guard Andre Miller said. "It is a measuring stick to a point, but you can't really worry about what those teams are doing. They've accomplished a lot and most likely they'll be in the conference finals. We'll see what happens."

Philadelphia has been prone to slumps, losing four straight three other times this season. The Sixers, who haven't won since beating Detroit 95-90 on April 4, shot 41.0 percent and committed 19 turnovers in a 111-104 loss to Toronto on Sunday night.

"You don't want to go on a losing streak around this time of the season, but it's happening," Miller said. "We just can't get the wins."

Miller is coming off a terrible game, shooting 2-for-14 and scoring 10 points. Philadelphia swingman Andre Iguodala had 21 points, but his 10 turnovers were a career high.

Iguodala had 22 points against the Celtics on Feb. 3, but the Sixers lost 100-99 in the teams' last meeting. Boston has outscored Philadelphia by an average of 14.7 points en route to winning all three contests in this season's series.

Paul Pierce had a game-high 29 points for the Celtics in the last matchup with the Sixers. The veteran swingman, who leads Boston with 20.3 points per game, was held to 14 on 4-for-17 shooting against Cleveland.