CAMDEN, N.J. — No NBA arena is revered as much as Madison Square Garden. When the New York Knicks host the Philadelphia 76ers in the first round of the 2024 NBA playoffs, another storied chapter of basketball in The Garden will be written.

The Knicks and Sixers are preparing for a tough, physical series. Under the glitz and glamor of New York City will be a hard-fought basketball war between two teams that have what it takes to make a deep playoff run.

Kelly Oubre Jr. had plenty of nice things to say about MSG when asked what it will be like to play there in a playoff series.

“I mean, the fans are pretty crazy,” he said. “They have a really good culture of being wild and loving basketball to the root and the core of it. They call it the Mecca basketball for a reason. The lights are super bright. They gonna give celebrities those $100,000 free tickets just to be there and not care about the game. But, you know, that's what they do and it's gonna be super fun.”

The Knicks are known for having several celebrity fans who are highly dedicated and appear at numerous games throughout the season. Spike Lee, Ben Stiller, Fat Joe, Tracy Morgan and many more show out and support the team often. But there are also a handful of celebs who, put simply, don’t do that.

When the 76ers were locked into this series with the Knicks, Cam Payne said that he instantly thought of the famous battles between Patrick Ewing's squads and Michael Jordan's Chicago Bulls. “It's some really iconic battles in The Garden,” he said.

Payne said that he hopes to get some three-pointers to go down so he can get a celebratory skip or backpedal off. The Sixers guard was asked if he would point to Lee, who has famously gotten some taunts from opposing players over the years. He said that he wouldn’t go that route.

“It's gonna be some good basketball being played,” Payne added. “It should be fun.”

The Knicks beat the Sixers three times this season and only lost once but Philly has fortified its roster since then. New York will be without Julius Randle but still flaunts an impressive amount of depth. All-Stars Jalen Brunson, Joel Embiid and Tyrese Maxey will be ready to dominate and lead their respective teams to victory.

When the series begins on Saturday at 6:00 PM EST in MSG, the energy will be sky-high on the biggest stage in all of basketball.

“I look forward to it, man,” Oubre said. “It's one of my favorite places to play.”