Josh Hart had a NSFW reaction when he heard 76ers' Paul Reed wanted to face the Knicks in the playoffs

The New York Knicks and Philadelphia 76ers will face off in the first round of the Eastern Conference postseason and it is already a heated matchup.

Philadelphia advanced out of the NBA’s play-in tournament by defeating the Miami Heat on Wednesday. This earned the Sixers a spot as the No. 7 seed in the East, earning an opportunity to play against the No. 2-seeded Knicks.

During a recent interview on the Run It Back podcast, 76ers big man Paul Reed was asked if Philly preferred to play against New York. Reed was very honest with his response.

RELATED: 76ers’ Paul Reed just gave the Knicks unnecessary bulletin-board material

"We ain't ducking no smoke, but yeah we wanted the #Knicks matchup, that's the easier team…" @Bball_paul on why winning last night's game, and avoiding the #Celtics was so important pic.twitter.com/okdBDxpp5w

— Run It Back (@RunItBackFDTV) April 18, 2024

Here is what Reed said:

“We ain’t ducking no smoke, but yeah we wanted the Knicks matchup of course. That’s the easier team, I guess. But you know it’s going to be fun. We match up pretty well with them.”

In fairness to Reed, if they had lost to the Heat earlier this week, the 76ers would have stayed in the play-in tournament and faced the Bulls in a single elimination game for a chance to play the No. 1-seeded Boston Celtics.

That is, by all measurements, a much harder route out of the first round.

Knicks’ Josh Hart had a NSFW reaction when he was asked about Reed’s comments.

Hart said, “I don’t give a [expletive]” what Reed said about New York.

His teammate, Isaiah Hartenstein, also seemed unbothered by Reed’s bulletin board material.