Philly sports fans united against Boston during rare schedule overlap for Sixers and Phillies

“As satisfying as beating Boston,” the Snickers ad near I-95′s Broad Street exit proudly proclaimed. While relevant for any Philadelphia team, that message was a closer fit for 76ers and Phillies fans this weekend.

Over the course of three days, South Philly played host to five matchups between Philadelphia and Boston, with two playoff basketball games and a three-game baseball series. With the games being played across the street from each other, the tailgates and Xfinity Live! featured Sixers and Phillies jerseys mingling with Celtics and Red Sox jerseys.

Ryanne McGuire, 13, rocking a powder blue Phillies jersey, hung out by Xfinity’s fire pit with Brynn Harper, 12, in a Sixers jersey, on Friday afternoon. The schedule overlap between the Phillies and the Sixers not only gave the two friends the chance to meet up before the game but to join forces against the same city. With Harper headed to the Wells Fargo Center and McGuire to Citizens Bank Park, the two planned to keep each other updated on each game.

» READ MORE: James Harden’s game-winner lifts Sixers to wild 116-115 overtime win to even series with Boston Celtics

The Red Sox and Phillies aren’t in the same league and were competing in a regular-season series, so there was much more tension surrounding the Sixers-Celtics playoff series, especially with it tied at a game apiece heading into the weekend.

But there’s always a level of rivalry to any Boston vs. Philly matchup. Three Villanova students have gained a unique perspective on the relationship between the two cities. Mikos Carroll, Marianna Johnson and Jimmy Gamboli are all juniors at Villanova — and they’re all Celtics fans. Carroll pointed out that, in basketball, there’s plenty of history to the rivalry. But having spent several years embedded in Philadelphia sports culture, they’ve all seen that the fan bases have a lot of similarities, which always makes things more intense.

“They’re definitely all die-hard fans from two pretty big cities that really care about their sports,” Johnson said.

Carroll can appreciate the passion, although he said it presents in a friendlier way for baseball and basketball games than football games. He’s been screamed at during Eagles tailgates for wearing an opposing jersey, but Friday, it helped him make friends at Xfinity Live. While Phillies and Sixers fans teased him, they also stopped to have a conversation and share a drink.

For almost as long as the students can remember, they’ve watched Boston come out with the edge in the rivalry. However, that has started to change in recent years.

For a mixed-fandom family who attended Friday’s basketball matchup, that has been an interesting turn of events.

Mike and Sam Hiester grew up Philly fans. Their cousin, Tom Richards, followed Boston. There has been a lot of smack talk over the years, and the Hiesters have grown accustomed to being underdogs.

“It kind of [stinks] that he keeps [getting] all these championships,” Sam said of Richards. “But we got a couple. We got a Super Bowl.”

“That was the worst one!” Richards cut in. “But we came back the next year.”

He then added that one city has choked in two championships in the last 365 days — and that’s Philadelphia — to which the Hiesters replied that Boston’s teams are on the decline while Philadelphia is on the rise. The ribbing is backed by love, though, and it has given them something to bond over. They planned to bring the bickering over to Citizens Bank Park on Saturday to cheer against each other in the Red Sox-Phillies game.

Celtics coach Joe Mazzulla had similar plans. With a day off between the two basketball games, Mazzulla headed to the park to catch a game, hang out by the dugout and chat with manager Alex Cora. It was their first time meeting, and Mazzulla picked his brain.

But whatever nuggets of wisdom they shared couldn’t save either team, as they both lost the next day. The Phillies snapped a six-game skid with their 6-1 win over the Red Sox. The Sixers evened the playoff series at two games each with their 116-115 overtime win over the Celtics.

However, Boston finished the weekend with the edge, flying home with three victories, including Friday’s Sixers-Celtics game and Friday and Saturday’s Phillies-Red Sox games.

That couldn’t dim Philadelphia fans’ excitement, though, as they roared their approval at the Wells Fargo Center as the clock expired on the final contest of the weekend.