Who is Josh Hart? If you never saw his time with the New York Knicks and had to reconstruct a player from box scores, season averages, and sourced statements from people hanging around outside Madison Square Garden, it would be a puzzling task. Yeah, he’s 6-foot-5, but teams can play him at center or no center, and he doesn’t score much anyway. Fans are shouting words like “straightforward,” “hustle,” and “intangible.” On paper, he’s one of the best “rebounding guards” of all time. In reality, he’s more of a wiry power forward who plays as a fast-break guard. He shot 41 percent from three in the regular season, but that’s misleading because of the low volume, and when you actually see him catch the ball beautifully from behind the arc, he turns his butt toward the hoop and begins a dribble handoff to a non-existent teammate. He’s a skilled passer and can never get away from his defenders. He’s a versatile defensive player who can turn on anyone, poke the ball out of passing lanes, and always get blown away as well. He is irreplaceable, but fans are always looking for someone to replace him.
Late in Game 2 of the Eastern Conference Finals against the Cleveland Cavaliers on Thursday, those frustrations and inconsistencies began to dissolve, and suddenly Josh Hart, the Knicks’ essential shooting guard, appeared. Emphasis on “shooting”. Like many defenses in the past, the Cavaliers paid special attention to Knicks point man Jalen Brunson, daring him to take open shots, something Hart hates most. The shy shooter missed his first three three-point shots, biting his jersey and slamming the ball into the hardwood, causing fans in the Garden to chant “Landry Shamet.” He is a low-rotation sniper who helped the Knicks get back to winning last time. Hart made two 3s by halftime, giving New York a 53-49 lead, but at that point the Cavaliers were probably still feeling comfortable with their decision to hold off Brunson and let a disgruntled Hart continue to chuck.
In the second half, Brunson continued to dutifully distribute the ball as directed by coverage, and Hart began to punish Cleveland’s gambles. He hit a series of crucial threes during an 18-0 run in the third quarter. By the end of the night, he was 3-for-11 with 5 hits and one comically slow clock, a floater that spun and disappeared. Hart scored a playoff career-high 26 points, along with four rebounds, seven assists, and two steals, and the Knicks won 109-93. The fact that the video below exists speaks volumes about how unusual his night was. He’s a player whose excellence usually falls into the very negative territory of the highlight reel.
In the postgame press conference, Brunson was asked if he felt responsible for continuing to feed the ball to Hart to boost his confidence despite being protected like that. “Well, I’m not really trying to find him. He just happens to be open-minded,” he said of his old friend. “So I handed him the ball.” Later in the conference, Hart said that in practice, instead of jacking up 500 threes while letting the mechanics slip, he was taking shots in small portions, focusing on the details.
Even after Thursday’s performance, Hart is currently shooting 30.4 percent from three in the postseason. Just so Knicks fans don’t get carried away with the idea that they’ve found the eternal bucket. But New York, which became the 13th team in history to win nine straight playoff games, held serve at home, leaving the Cavaliers with new questions about how to protect them. He also can’t seem to get Josh Hart hot.
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