If you’re a Knicks’ fan these days, you have to be elated.

The Knicks are in a great position to knock off the defending champion Celtics, possibly presenting one of the greatest NBA upsets in recent years. Knicks’ fans could be on their way to celebrate their first title since 1973.

In this week’s version of my Yesterday column — reminiscing about sports and pop culture in the 1960s, 70s, 80s and sometimes before and beyond — I’ll take a look at some Sixers’ upsets and a few classic league ones.

Also … do you remember what now defunct team upset the Sixers in the opening round of the playoffs in 1976? Or the wrestler who upset Bruno Sammartino in 1971, and the one who ended Bob Backlund’s reign in 1983?

Did you ever play an electric basketball game, and who was Jim Barnett?

A Sixers’ Holiday ... In 2012, the eighth-seeded Sixers upset the top-seeded Bulls in the opening round of the Eastern Conference playoffs. It probably was a series that most Sixers fans forgot.

Current Celtics’ star Jrue Holiday, the Sixers’ top pick in the 2009 draft, averaged a team-best 18.2 points in the series, and he led a balanced attack of Lou Williams (12.8 points per game), Andre Iguodala (12.0), Evan Turner (11.7) and Spencer Hawes (11.5) — remember him? The Sixers won the final game in Philly.

At that time, Chicago was paced by Derrick Rose, Joakim Noah, Luol Deng and Richard Hamilton. Even though it wasn’t that long ago, you have to think back on these guys.

The Sixers went on to lose to the Celtics in seven games in the semifinals, which wasn’t considered a major upset. These were the Celtics led by Kevin Garnett, Paul Pierce and Ray Allen, and the Sixers weren’t expected to stretch the series that far.

By the way, Hawes was the nephew of Steve Hawes, a power forward you may recall for the Hawks, SuperSonics and Trail Blazers in the 1970s and 80s.

Mac Attack ... As they used to say in school, you have to put your “thinking cap” on to recall the Sixers-Buffalo Braves 1976 first-round playoff matchup, won by Buffalo 2-1 in three games (you have to go back for the three-game series) with the final game in the Spectrum.

Bob McAdoo was nearly a one-man show averaging 30.3 points in the series, but he had plenty of help from Randy Smith (21.7) , Jim McMillan (20.7) and John Shumate (15.7).

This was pre-Dr.J Sixer days, as Fred Carter (28.0) and George McGinnis (23.0) paced the team. Philly also had some firepower in Doug Collins (19.3), Steve Mix (14.7) and World B. Free (10.7). McGinnis shot 4-for-14 from the field in the final game.

Buffalo’s run was stopped by Boston in the next round in six games.

Bite the Bullet ... After they lost to Portland in the 1977 finals, the Sixers were the top seed in the East during the playoffs the following season and were expected to get back to the finals.

However, they ran into the fourth-seeded and eventual champion Washington Bullets in the Eastern finals and lost in six games. They couldn’t control Elvin Hayes (23.0) and Bob Dandridge (22.8), and lefty Kevin Grevey (16.3) also helped sink them. Mitch Kupchak (10.3) also was a force, as was Larry Wright (14.7). Wes Unseld came off the bench in his twilight years.

Erving averaged 21.5 points and Collins added 20 points, but McGinnis struggled again with his shooting.

The Bullets swept the Knicks in four games to reach the finals.

A Chocolate Thunder Revenge ... In the summer of the 1982 season, the Sixers traded Darryl Dawkins to the Nets for their No. 1 pick in the draft in 1983.

Two years later, Dawkins got his revenge when the Nets shocked the defending champion Sixers in the first round of the 1984 Eastern Conference playoffs, ousting them in five games.

Dawkins averaged 13.6 points in five games, but the Sixers couldn’t control Buck Williams, who averaged 18.6 and grabbed 76 total rebounds. Michael Ray Richardson was their main outlet, averaging 20.6, and Albert King (16.0) and Otis Birdsong (14.4 ) were effective.

Moses Malone averaged 21.4 points and had 69 rebounds, and Andrew Toney added 20.6 points along with Erving’s 18.6, but it wasn’t enough due to a weak Sixers’ bench. It also was the beginning of a quick decline from the top.

Leo Routins, a Sixers’ bust, was their top pick in 1983.

The Bucks beat the Nets in six games in the semifinals.

A Fond Farewell ... In one of their final seasons in Kansas City (1981) before they relocated to Sacramento in 1985, the fifth-seeded Kings gave their fans an early parting gift by knocking off the top-seeded Suns in seven games, winning the final game in Phoenix.

The KC foursome of Reggie King, Scott Wedman, Ernie Grunfeld and legendary Sam Lacey were able to outgun and outrun the Suns’ quadrant of Adams, Walter Davis — a forgotten scorer — Dennis Johnson and Leonard “Truck” Robinson.

At the time, it loomed as one of the bigger upsets in the past 20 years.

Houston, which was then led by Moses Malone, Calvin Murphy and Rudy Tomjanovich, took the Kings in five games in the Western finals.

If you remember either/or/and Scott Wedman and “Truck” Robinson, you deserve a prize.

The Living Phoenix ... Aside from the Sixers, one of the major upsets back in the day was Phoenix’s edging defending champion Golden State in seven games of the 1976 West Conference finals.

This was the Paul Westphal-Alvin Adams Suns that also featured Curtis Perry and Ricky Sobers, the previous year’s top pick shooting guard from UNLV.

Veteran Keith Erickson was the fifth starter, and the bench featured Gar Heard (often a starter), Dick Van Arsdale, ex-Sixer Dennis Awtrey and Pat Riley.

Golden State had Rick Barry, Jeff Mullins, Jamaal Wilkes, Phil Smith and Charles Johnson, and a young Gus Williams off the bench. I also liked Derrick Dickey and George Johnson off the bench.

And can anyone flashback to Golden State guard Bubbles Hawkins?

The Suns lost to Boston in six games in the finals in one of the championships in the last 50 years.

Another Classic Game ... In the 1960s, Tudor released its Tru-Action Electric Basketball Game, as a complement to its then state-of-the-art football game.

Like football, the game featured a vibrating court to move players around. Game players would use a shooter to attempt a shot, with the game including two shooters, player figures, and backboards with rims and nets.

The vibration, as we all know with football, would cause the players to move randomly, and players would try to control the movement of their players to shoot the ball.

The electric games were usually impossible to play, but we still had fun with them.

WWWF/WWE Wrap ... Each week, I’ll look back at a former wrestler we remember growing up.

In keeping with the theme of upsets and rivalries, there were two among several that rocked the WWWF/WWE world.

On Jan. 18, 1971, Bruno Sammartino unexpectedly lost his WWWF title, one that he had held for nearly eight months, to Ivan Koloff at Madison Square Garden.

Koloff downed Sammartino with a knee drop and a slam off the top rope that silenced the crowd. Several New York newspapers ran pictures of the event due to the unexpected result.

Pedro Morales defeated Koloff three weeks later for the crown.

In another upset, the Iron Sheik beat Bob Backlund for the title on Dec. 26, 1983 when Arnold Skaaland, Backlund’s manager, threw in the towel after the Sheik had applied his “camel clutch.” Backlund, who held the title for nearly six years after he defeated Billy “Superstar” Graham in 1978, had suffered neck, arm and shoulder injuries from earlier defeating the Sheik in a Persian Club challenge match.

Immediately after the match, manager “Ayatollah” Freddie Blassie, grabbed the belt from Backlund and Skaaland to celebrate the victory.

However, the Sheik’s stay on top was short. He was defeated by Hulk Hogan in January 1984 when Hogan escaped his “camel clutch” move.

Memory Lane ... Each week, I’ll look back at a former player, coach, manager or media personality from our yesterday.

Knicks’ great Dick Barnett recently passed away, but do you remember journeyman Jim Barnett?

Barnett had a cup of coffee with the Sixers in 1977, appearing in 16 games and averaging 4.1 points per game. He spent two years with the Knicks during 1975 and 1976, playing in 99 games with a 6.1 average.

Overall, Barnett played for seven teams in 11 years with other stops at Boston (their No. 1 pick in the 1966 draft), Golden State, Portland, San Diego (Rockets) and New Orleans, averaging 11.7 points over 732 games. If you remember him, you get another star.

Your thoughts are always welcomed; email them to tnsports@tnonline.com