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Just two days ago, Josh Hart found himself sidelined for the entire fourth quarter.
However, by Friday, he was a crucial presence on the court throughout the final period, playing a pivotal role in the Knicks’ 140-132 victory over the Heat at Madison Square Garden.
His performance was nothing short of historic.
Hart achieved a triple-double, amassing 12 points, 12 rebounds, and 10 assists.
This marked his 16th career triple-double with the Knicks, equaling Richie Guerin for the third-highest in the team’s history. The only players ahead of him are Walt Frazier with 23 and the late Michael Ray Richardson with 18.
Without Jalen Brunson, who was out with a sprained ankle, Hart also played an important role as a ball handler.
“He was 4-for-4 on 50/50 balls,” head coach Mike Brown said. “We won the possession game, barely, we needed every one of those 50/50 balls he came up with. Heck of a job by Josh getting a triple-double tonight.”
Hart did not play at all during the fourth quarter of the Knicks’ loss to the Magic on Wednesday and appeared upset afterward. On Friday, he was the energizer to which the Knicks have become accustomed.
Brown inserted Miles McBride into the starting lineup in place of Brunson. McBride finished with nine points and four assists.
Tyler Kolek, the only true point guard other than Brunson on the roster, did not play. He started the year as Brunson’s main backup but has fallen out of the rotation.
Landry Shamet (36) and Jordan Clarkson (24) became the first Knicks pair with 20-or-more points off the bench since 2021.
Brown utilized a zone defense Friday more than he has all season.
“We were having trouble guarding them off the dribble,” Brown said. “We just wanted to try to give them a different look, get them out of rhythm a little bit. … The reality of it is, we worked on zone one day, and it wasn’t the zone we used tonight. We kind of just threw the zone together. Our guys did not a great job, a hell of a job responding and reacting to the zone that we called on the fly.”
Brown went out of his way to praise his assistants for their contributions to Friday’s win.
“My fricken’ staff was unbelievable,” Brown said. “Chris Jent was fabulous. Rick Brunson was fabulous. Brendan O’Conner, they were all really good and they were on point helping me with substitutions, mixing in zone, figuring out where we need to go with the ball offensively.”