Jalen Brunson’s Olympic snub, the team president from Cherry Hill and other things to know about the Sixers’ next opponent

The Sixers and Knicks don’t meet very often in the playoffs, which is probably why they have the least animosity of any New York-Philly rivalry aside from Eagles-Jets. 

In fact, the last they met in the postseason was in 1989 when Charles Barkley was the Sixers’ star, Eric Lindros was still in juniors and Joel Embiid was five years yet from being born. So, yeah, it’s been awhile. 

Here are 20 things to know about the Knicks ahead of their first-round series against the Sixers, which starts Saturday (6 p.m., ESPN): 

1. Kinda unfortunate that Knicks star Jalen Brunson (28.7 ppg, 6.7 apg) was not on Team USA’s Olympic roster. I’d take Brunson over Boston’s Jrue Holiday (12.5 ppg, 4.8 apg), even if Holiday is a top-tier defender. Brunson’s an unquestioned winner and should be a top-5 MVP candidate. 

2. Brunson was second in the NBA with 11 games of 40+ points (behind only Luka’s 13) and fourth in 30+ points games with 36 (only SGA, Luka and the Greek Freak had more). And we’re sure we can’t squeeze this guy onto the Olympic team???

3. Guards on Team USA’s Olympic roster: Devin Booker, Steph Curry, Anthony Edwards, Tyrese Haliburton and Jrue Holiday. “I was just focused on the playoffs,” Brunson told reporters after practice on Tuesday. “I didn’t look at the list.”

4. The Knicks took three of four against the Sixers this season, including a 128-92 blowout on Jan. 5 at the Wells Fargo Center. Joel Embiid had 30 points, but his plus/minus that night was -29, his worst of the season. Embiid did not play in the other three meetings.

5. Here’s a funky stat provided by the Knicks PR people. Josh Hart had easily the most 10+ rebound games in the NBA for a player 6’4” and under with 31. Next closest is three guys with 7, the most notable being Anthony Edwards.

6. Donte DiVincenzo set a team record with 283 made three-pointers, shattering the mark of 241 set by Evan Fournier two years ago. Of players with at least 600 attempts, only Steph Curry (40.8%) shot threes at a higher percentage than DiVincenzo (40.1%). 

7. A little trivia. Who holds the Sixers’ record for most three-pointers made in a season? Kyle Korver, Tyrese Maxey or JJ Redick. Answer below.

8. Besides the Villanova trio of Brunson-Hart-DiVincenzo, former Temple star Rick Brunson is a Knicks assistant coach, top executive Leon Rose played at Cherry Hill East, and St. Joseph’s product/Philly native Charlie Brown was on a two-way contract with New York this season. 

9. Former Sixer Shake Milton is a deep reserve, and Ryan Arcidiacono, another Villanova alum, started the season with the Knicks, but was traded at the deadline by New York for the second straight season.

10. Rose, the Knicks’ president, was a prominent former player agent with clients such as LeBron James and Carmelo Anthony. He joined the Knicks on March 2, 2020 – just before the pandemic exploded in this country. 

11. Reserve center Mitchell Robinson is the only player on the playoff roster drafted by the Knicks, and he was picked two years before Rose arrived. Everyone else was acquired either via trade or free agency by Rose.

12. This is the second time this century the Knicks are seeded as high as No. 2. The other was in 2013 when Carmelo Anthony was the star. New York beat Boston in the opening round, before losing to 3-seed Indiana in the conference semis. That season was also the last time the Knicks won 50+ games. They were 54-28 for coach Mike Woodson.

13. Their projected preseason win total according to BetMGM this year was 45.5. They went 50-32.

14. Trivia answer. JJ Redick set the Sixers record when he made 240 three-pointers in 2018-19. Redick was 240-for-605 for a 39.7% clip. Maxey set a career-high this year with 212 (on 569 attempts, 37.3%).

15. Rugged center Isaiah Hartenstein has a knack for making critical plays that often don’t show up in the boxscore. He takes about five shots per game, but averaged 2.5 assists in a career-high 25.3 minutes per game.

16. Despite his solid season, Hartenstein told the German newspaper Bild am Sonntag that he’s probably going to skip this year’s Summer Games. Germany won last year’s FIBA World Cup for the first time and he’s not interested in upsetting the wiener schnitzel cart. 

17. “I don’t want to force it,” he told reporter Von Michel Schroer in March. “There’s a team playing there now that has become world champions. … On top of that, I’m going to be a father in the summer. Of course, as an athlete, you want to be at the Olympics. But at the moment, I think it’s very unlikely.”

18. All-Star forward Julius Randle is out for the year after having shoulder surgery. Oddly, the Knicks were slightly better without Randle (31-15, .674%) than they were with him (29-17, .630%). His is the only significant injury the Knicks are dealing with.

19. Among Rose’s acquisitions this year is OG Anunoby from Toronto. Anunoby, whose first name is Ogugua, was a member of the Raptors 2019 championship team (coached by Nick Nurse). He did not appear in the postseason, however, following an emergency appendectomy that year. This season, New York is 20-3 when he’s in the lineup.

20. “We’re a pretty good post-trade team,” Josh Hart said after the Knicks thumped the Sixers in January. “Maybe we can make some more trades – No one in here (though). Maybe some 2040 picks, or something like that. Keep it rolling until the trade deadline until we can’t do it anymore.”

Ed Barkowitz is a semi-retired sports writer formerly with the Philadelphia Daily News/Inquirer. His email is EdBarkowitz2.0@gmail.com.