The Nueva Ecija Rice Vanguards and San Juan Knights first met in 2019 in the Maharlika Pilipinas Basketball League, but the rivalry began getting fierce as both teams became contenders.
Following their title clash in the 2022 FilBasket Summer Championship, both teams have fought for North Division contention in the MPBL, playing each other in back-to-back playoff series (2022 and 2023).
The defending champion San Juan Knights hosted the expansion Nueva Ecija Rice Vanguards on August 12, 2019, at the Filoil Flying V Centre.
[3] In the draw for the 2021 MPBL Invitational, the Nueva Ecija Rice Vanguards were then drawn into Group C with the San Juan Knights, setting up the next meeting between both teams.
[1] They would meet in the playoffs again in the following season, Nueva Ecija and San Juan were once again fighting for North Division contention, with both teams finishing with 23–5 and 19–9 records, respectively.