HOPE FOR THE HOLIDAYS!

After years of leaving lumps of coal for fans, Knicks poised to unwrap a victory at Garden

LOOK, it’s probably unfair to Christmas to point out that the Knicks have been brutal for a while whenever they’ve been scheduled to p l ay on Dec. 25. They’ve lost, a lot, for a lot of years, so the record probably isn’t all that hot on Presidents Day, either, or Valentine’s Day. Still, the record is the record. And the Knicks have made it a habit of getting cold-cocked by the Yule Log every year. Last year, they were 16-13, and looking forward to a Christmas Day matinee with the Celtics, except the Celtics roasted their chesnuts on an open f i re, 1 1 9-1 14 , ki c ki ng off a s i x- game l osi ng streak, nine losses in 10 games t hat essentially redef ined the Knicks’ season.

It actually has been six long years since the Knicks prevailed on Chris t mas, and even t hat one comes wit h an ex pl a nation, because that was the season-opener against the Celtics thanks to the lockout wiping out the first two months of the 201112 season.

Yet , i t ’s f unny: If you talk to Knicks fans old enough to re member, Chri s t mas ga mes are actually remembered quite fondly. This, mostly, is due to two Christmas games. In 1984, Bernard King dropped 60 points (19-for-30 from the field, 22-for26 from the line) on the Nets (though the Knicks lost — of course — 120-116). And the next year, the Celtics (who won 67 games and a title that season) jumped to a 58-33 third-quarter lead over the Knicks (who went on to win just 23), but a rookie named Patrick Ewing scored 32 points and grabbed 11 rebounds as the Knicks won in doubleovertime, 113-104.

“That,” Hubie Brown said afterward, “was a Christmas miracle.”

So it is in the spirit of those games from some three decades ago that we place our faith in the fact this year’s Christmas Day showcase between the Knicks and the 76ers might deliver more than a few visions of sugar plums dancing in the heads of those who’ll make the pilgrimage at the Garden for the noon tip or tune in on TV.

For in theory, this should be one of the great NBA match-ups across the next few years. The Sixers, of course, have been the league’s Great Experiment for years now, losing games by the buckets, but stockpiling stars like Joel Embiid and Ben Simmons and (eventually) Markelle Fultz, collecting so many bright young stars that they were happy to part with the third pick in the 2015 draft, Jahlil Okafor, when his development didn’t run apace with the team’s.

Of c o u r s e, the S i xe r s still haven’t learned how to win yet, not consiste nt ly, though they are somehow equally as danger- ous on the road (7-9) as they are at home (also 7-9), where the Wells Fargo Center has become one of the most fun basketball dest i nat i ons on the map t hi s year.

That’s almost diametrically opposite the Knicks, who have become furious Garden guardians in compiling a 15-5 record at home and have developed into a generally automatic “bye” whenever they take their show on the road (2-10 away from the Garden, 1-10 when they leave the boroughs).

Of course, one of the things that makes a game like this so enticing is the very inconsistency both teams show almost every game — much of the time, on a quarter-by-quarter basis. After all, the Knicks’ one road win (apart from one at Brooklyn, which is still essentially an honorary home game) was in Cleve- land, and by rights they should have two wins over the Cavaliers. And yet they’ve looked helpless on the road against the woeful likes of Atlanta and Chicago and Charlotte, too.

The Sixers? Just 23 days ago they stood at 13-9 and seemed ready to make the move for which Philadelphia has waited, seemingly, since 1984 or so. Only they’ve lost nine of their past 10. Last week they played a thrilling triple-overtime game against the Thunder before losing, then fell two nights later to the Bulls. So what will we get? Well, there will be two of the game’s brightest stars in Embiid and Kristaps Porzingis. There will be Simmons, as i ntr i g uing a young player as there is in the league, and Michael Beasley, who has become the most unlikely Garden favorite in years. So much of what both teams are about right now revolves around tomorrow.

But for the here-and-now? For this Christmas?

Wrap it up. We’ll take it.