Sports rivalries between New York and Philadelphia date back more than a century.

In the first 10 iterations of the modern World Series, the New York Giants and Philadelphia A’s met three times. About 100 years later, Jimmy Rollins helped make Mets-Phillies the most interesting battle in the National League.

The Rangers and Flyers have met 11 times in the playoffs. The Islanders and Flyers have faced off five times — including the 1980 Stanley Cup Finals — most recently going seven games in the second round of the 2020 playoffs. The Giants and Eagles maintain one of the NFL’s best rivalries — recently amped up with Saquon Barkley’s signing with Philadelphia — intense, regardless of records.

On paper, the Knicks and 76ers should rank among the NBA’s greatest rivals, but the stars have rarely aligned for two of the league’s oldest franchises.

They met in the 1968 division semifinals (Philadelphia won, 4-2), months before Wilt Chamberlain left for Los Angeles and Dave DeBusschere came to New York. As the Knicks began their path to two titles, the 76ers slid into irrelevance, finishing with the most losses in NBA history (9-73) during the Knicks’ second championship run. The Knicks then became afterthoughts in the Atlantic Division, behind Julius Erving’s 76ers — and then Larry Bird’s Celtics — and were steamrolled in sweeps by Philadelphia in 1978 and 1983. In 1989, Patrick Ewing led a first-round sweep of Charles Barkley’s 76ers.

The Knicks and 76ers have not competed against one another in the postseason in 35 years.
Charles Wenzelberg/New York Post

And that was that — the Knicks competed for titles while the 76ers fell apart after trading Barkley; Ewing’s departure coincided with Allen Iverson’s rise; and Philadelphia endured “The Process” as the Knicks went through a lengthier and more painful process of trying but failing for the better part of two decades — until now.

For the first time in 35 years, the Knicks and 76ers will face off in the postseason, with the potential to produce the most memorable matchup ever between the teams.

Sportsbooks are calling the series all but a coin flip. With Joel Embiid back, the 76ers enter with nine straight wins. With OG Anunoby back, the Knicks enter Saturday’s Game 1 (6 p.m. ET, ESPN) with five straight wins.

A regular season that started with Leon Rose hoping to make Embiid the new face of the franchise ended with Jalen Brunson as the new king of New York, set to receive MVP votes after leading the Knicks to their second 50-win season of the century.

It is a series that has no business taking place this early. It is that way because Embiid has been limited to 40 games this season, taking a 76ers team that went 32-8 (including the play-in) with the reigning MVP — and the favorite to repeat before he suffered a knee injury — down to a 7-seed.

The series ultimately could play out like a second-round battle, with 6-seed Indiana — which has a strong chance to advance if Bucks star Giannis Antetokounmpo doesn’t return from a calf injury — potentially looming as the hurdle to a potential encounter with the Celtics in the Eastern Conference Finals.

The 76ers haven’t reached the conference finals in 23 years, the fourth-longest drought in the league. The Knicks haven’t been among the final four in 24 years.

There will be no better Round 1 atmosphere than Madison Square Garden. There may be no road environment more hostile than Philadelphia. There is no better way to breathe life into a battle that is begging to become a true rivalry, that easily could culminate with the Knicks’ first home Game 7 since Ewing’s finger-roll hit iron in 1995.

Here’s a look at the other first-round matchups:

No. 2 Nuggets vs. No. 7 Lakers: A battle between the world’s best player (Nikola Jokic) and one of the best players of all time (LeBron James) may attract the most eyes in Round 1, but suspense in the series may not last long. Denver has won eight straight games against the Lakers, including a sweep in last year’s Western Conference Finals. Game 1: Saturday, 8:30 p.m. ET, ABC

No. 4 Clippers vs. No. 5 Mavericks: Dallas is a popular sleeper for good reason, winning 16 of its past 17 games with Luka Doncic in the lineup, a defense that’s been among the league’s best and Kyrie Irving — at least temporarily — keeping the focus on the court. The Clippers won hard-fought first-round battles against Dallas in 2020 and 2021, but Doncic — who averaged 33.5 points, 9.5 assists and 8.7 rebounds in those matchups — has only improved and gotten more help. Now, how much help can annual playoff underperformer James Harden provide for Kawhi Leonard and Paul George? Game 1: Sunday, 3:30 p.m. ET, ABC

No. 3 Timberwolves vs. No. 6 Suns: Minnesota’s best season in 20 years produced an opponent it didn’t want to see. Phoenix won all three of their matchups during the regular season by double digits — including a pair this month — as Anthony Edwards put up his worst numbers against any team in the conference. Karl-Anthony Towns is back from injury, but the big man has played in just two games since missing a month due to knee surgery. Game 1: Saturday, 3:30 p.m. ET, ESPN

No. 1 Thunder vs. No. 8 Kings/Pelicans: Sacramento is a slight favorite to take Friday night’s Play-In Tournament game in New Orleans with Zion Williamson sidelined. Either way, Oklahoma City will face a team that isn’t positioned to exploit their inexperience or size. Game 1: Sunday, 9:30 p.m. ET, TNT

No. 3 Bucks vs. No. 6 Pacers: Milwaukee was upset as the No. 1 seed last year when Antetokounmpo missed half of the first-round series against Miami. History may repeat with the former NBA Finals MVP’s status uncertain. Even if he returns, the aging Milwaukee roster may struggle to slow the league’s highest-scoring team. With Antetokounmpo available for all five regular-season matchups, the Pacers went 4-1 against the Bucks. Under Doc Rivers, the Bucks have gone 17-19 this season.  Game 1: Sunday, 7 p.m. ET, TNT

No. 1 Celtics vs. No. 8 Heat/Bulls: After one of the greatest regular seasons in league history, Boston may essentially get a bye to the Eastern Conference Finals. The first round will either feature an inconsistent Heat team without its best player (Jimmy Butler) or a 39-win Bulls team. In the second round, Boston will avoid the three biggest threats in the conference (Knicks, Bucks, 76ers). Game 1: Sunday, 1 p.m. ET, ABC

No. 4 Cavaliers vs. No. 5 Magic: The least sexy matchup should at least be competitive with Donovan Mitchell and Paolo Banchero both candidates to be the top scorer of any series. Orlando’s young roster is ahead of schedule, but capable of breaking through to the second round for the first time in 14 years behind one of the best defenses in the league. Cleveland has more talent, but looks to have lost all chemistry, going 13-17 down the stretch. How will the memory of last year’s loss to the Knicks affect the Cavs? Game 1: Saturday, 1 p.m. ET, ESPN