The second James Harden forced his way out of Brooklyn last season — and down the Turnpike to Philadelphia — there has been the tantalizing potential for the Nets and 76ers to actually play games against each other that count. Playoff games.

That wait ends Saturday, when the teams face off in Game 1 of their Eastern Conference first-round series.

With a remade roster led by rapidly emerging newcomer Mikal Bridges (a Philadelphia native, no less), the Nets are not going to simply accept their role as underdogs against Harden and Joel Embiid, the presumptive NBA MVP.

“If I was a betting man, in terms of as a fan, I’d pick the MVP,” Spencer Dinwiddie said. “For us as a team though, feeling the confidence that we have in each other to go out there and get a win in this series, obviously we embrace that role. And we’re going to relish it.”

The Nets can relish being underdogs, but can they actually pull off an upset against the third-seeded Sixers?

Facing the two-headed monster of their own former star teammate and the two-time reigning scoring champion?

The Post’s Brian Lewis breaks down the matchups that will decide whether they really can:

After trading away the midrange mastery of Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving, the Nets had to find other ways to score.

Their 3-point rate vaulted from mid-pack (16th at 37.6) before the All-Star break to fifth-highest (43.7) afterward. Both James Harden and Tyrese Maxey can be picked on defensively, and the Nets must do so repeatedly.

Edge: Even

The Sixers were quietly the most accurate 3-point shooting team in the NBA this season at 38.7 percent — amazing what happens when you pair the assist champion with the scoring champ.

The Nets have the league’s fourth-best 3-point defense (.322), but they’ve been closer to middle-of-the-pack since the All-Star break.

They’ll have their hands full as the 76ers’ stars create open 3-point looks.

Edge: 76ers

Despite the presence of Embiid, the 76ers are a subpar rebounding team, but that doesn’t matter because the Nets are aspiring to be just subpar.

The Nets are second-worst in the league in rebound percentage, offensive-rebound percentage and defensive-rebound percentage.

They’ve only improved to fourth-worst since the Durant deal became official on Feb. 11. That is an Achilles’ heel the Sixers can punish.

Edge: 76ers

Mikal Bridges has been an apt pupil at learning how to get to the line, but Embiid and Harden have taught the master class.

It’s arguably Philadelphia’s greatest strength.

The Sixers lead the league in free throws made (21.0) and percentage (83.5).

Embiid’s career average of 8.1 makes is the best in NBA history, and his 10.0 this season is just the seventh campaign ever in double-figures.

Edge: 76ers

Center Nic Claxton is a dangerous lob threat, but the Nets have no post game and now lack the midrange threat of Durant an Irving.

Since the All-Star break, no team in the league has scored a lower percentage of their points in the paint than the Nets have.

That isn’t likely to change in this first-round series, especially considering how solid Embiid has become as a defender.

Edge: 76ers

The Nets lead the NBA in blocked shots by a considerable margin (6.2), and even with Durant gone, Claxton finished second in the league in blocks (2.5) and offers dominant rim protection on his own.

While Embiid is the favorite to unseat Nikola Jokic as MVP, and a two-time reigning scoring champ, Philadelphia hasn’t found a reliable backup for him or a way to become a prolific as a team in the paint.

Edge: Nets

The Nets have an advantage over Philadelphia in pace and fast-break points, and it will be a point of emphasis by coach Jacque Vaughn.

The Nets need to push the ball and get easy looks in transition or early offense.

The 76ers play at a slower pace, with Embiid and Harden preferring the half-court, so the Nets will try to speed them up.

Edge: Nets

The 76ers have unraveled in their non-Embiid minutes, so coach Doc Rivers has turned to more athletic lineups that include De’Anthony Melton, Jalen McDaniels, Danuel House Jr. and Paul Reed.

The Nets — behind Royce O’Neale, Joe Harris and Rivers’ son-in-law, Seth Curry — need to win those bench minutes, or even dominate them.

Edge: Nets

Vaughn — essentially the Nets’ second or third choice as coach — has proven himself both a solid leader and adaptable tinkerer in keeping them together through a tumultuous season.

And Rivers, who actually coached Vaughn in Orlando, is facing heat in Philadelphia for having yet to get the 76ers to the conference finals.

Still, he has won a ring, more than 100 playoff games and a Coach of the Year trophy.

Edge: 76ers

The Nets are still looking for cohesion after they traded away superstars Durant and Irving and brought in four new starters from two different teams.

They’re still trying to meld three disparate clubs into one cohesive unit. Meanwhile, with Harden a free agent, this is the Sixers’ window.

Their league-best 42-18 mark since Dec. 1 shows they know it.

Edge: 76ers

Brian Lewis

These Nets are vastly different — more experience, higher upside — than the team that suffered a gentleman’s sweep at the hands of the 76ers in the 2019 first round.

But the end result will be the same, facing the pick-and-roll potency of Joel Embiid and James Harden.

76ers in 5

Mike Vaccaro

This won’t be your standard-issue gentleman’s sweep.

The Nets are too feisty and frisky to allow that, and the 76ers will have to earn all four wins.

The feeling around the Nets will be night and day from their first-round ouster last year.

76ers in 5