Joel Embiid: Next 3 Weeks 'Are Really Going to Shape' 76ers' Season

With the Philadelphia 76ers preparing to go through a challenging stretch of their schedule, center Joel Embiid is looking forward to seeing what his team is made of.

"I'm excited," Embiid said Sunday, per ESPN's Tim Bontemps. "We're going to see how good we are and how good we can become—or how bad we are. ... I think the next three weeks are really going to shape our season. It will be exciting. It will be a good test."

After Tuesday night's game against the Minnesota Timberwolves (21-22), Philadelphia will not face a team below .500 until Feb. 13. That's a string of 12 games against clubs with winning records.

During that stretch, the Sixers will face the Indiana Pacers, Oklahoma City Thunder, Houston Rockets, San Antonio Spurs, Denver Nuggets (twice), Los Angeles Lakers (twice), Golden State Warriors, Sacramento Kings, Toronto Raptors and Boston Celtics.

That's quite the gauntlet, but head coach Brett Brown said: "I think the level rises. I think our talent rises, and I look forward to playing some of the elite."

The Sixers recently went on a four-game winning streak to move to a season-high 13 games above .500. However, they followed that hot streak by losing two of their past three games, both against teams with losing records.

Philadelphia (28-16) sits in fourth place in the Eastern Conference, 4.5 games back of the top-seeded Toronto Raptors.

The Sixers snapped a five-year playoff drought last season and made it to the second round before falling in five games to Boston. Now they face a stretch that could go a long way in defining their season.